inspired by "redright's" series of a similar name
This actually happened a couple of weeks ago but I still want to share. I advertised a number of Mariners bobbleheads on Craigslist. I was contact by someone asking to purchase 5 of them and offering me $85 which he said was $10 off what I had asked. I noted that Griffey had been sold but I could sell the other 4 for the same $85 which was $10 off. I hope he mis-added and wasn't trying to scam me. He then changed his mind on which ones he wanted but the cost was the same. We agreed to meet over the weekend, likely Saturday, when he'd be in the Factoria area.
Saturday afternoon he emailed me and said the day was busy so we set up an 8 AM Sunday meeting time (I had plans during the day). I arrived at 8, waited a few minutes, then checked my email to see he had said his car was frozen shut and he couldn't make it. It was cold but not cold enough to freeze car doors. I responded that we could touch base around 5 PM. I called him at 5 and he never called back. I emailed him Monday or Tuesday and never heard back.
I don't mind so much that he reneged on a deal. That's the nature of dealing with people through Craigslist. That he gave me the run around over the weekend and didn't have the courtesy to call, text, or email that he was sorry but he had to back out of the deal is what gets me. Given the energy I spent on this transaction, I was barely making any money even if he did show. Acceptance reasons for this behavior are 1) death, 2) brain death.
Saturday, October 30
Sunday, October 24
Playoffs x2
With the college football season nearing the end of October, talk of a playoff system is heating up again. Having 7 teams undefeated and a handful of very strong one-loss teams makes the noise a bit louder than in typical years. As well, it's almost a certainty that Boise State and either TCU or Utah, who play each other, will wind up undefeated. And so there's a chance we'll have three or four undefeated teams prior to bowls. And thus a "deserving" team would be left out of the Championship if that happens.
The problem with a playoff system, and why I don't like any of the ideas I've heard, is what we're seeing in baseball this year. The playoffs have been competitive and entertaining for sure. And having the Rangers and the Giants in the World Series is a compelling story and a nice change from Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies. However each league is represented by the weakest of its four playoff teams. We played 162 games to determine that the Yankees, Rays, Phillies, and Braves were the best team and then played 10-12 games to decide to send someone else to the World Series.
I'm not suggesting we go back to two divisions and only four team in the playoffs. However I think college football "fans" are oblivious to what would happen in a playoff system. I think there will be a lot of noise about TCU/Utah being left out of the National Championship, but would having Alabama play Missouri or Michigan State for the Championship make anyone feel better about the title?
The problem with a playoff system, and why I don't like any of the ideas I've heard, is what we're seeing in baseball this year. The playoffs have been competitive and entertaining for sure. And having the Rangers and the Giants in the World Series is a compelling story and a nice change from Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies. However each league is represented by the weakest of its four playoff teams. We played 162 games to determine that the Yankees, Rays, Phillies, and Braves were the best team and then played 10-12 games to decide to send someone else to the World Series.
I'm not suggesting we go back to two divisions and only four team in the playoffs. However I think college football "fans" are oblivious to what would happen in a playoff system. I think there will be a lot of noise about TCU/Utah being left out of the National Championship, but would having Alabama play Missouri or Michigan State for the Championship make anyone feel better about the title?
Sunday, October 17
Bears: Bad News, Good News, Bad News
The bad news is that the Bears lost at home to an inferior team that's been particularly bad on the road. And the offense didn't look good at all. Honestly the offensive line is going to have to step up and give Cutler some time. If they can't run and can't pass, they can't win long term. Hopefully Garza and Briggs are back soon because they team doesn't have enough depth to play hurt. And 0-12 on 3rd down conversions should clue them in whatever they're doing isn't working.
The good news is that after 6 weeks, the number of NFC team with a better record than the Bears is 0. There are 4 other teams at 4-2. And the Bears are one of only 8 teams fighting for 5 playoff spots. This assumes that only the NFC West champion will make the playoffs (likely but not a guarantee), the Cowboys at 1-4 are done (hard to see them going 8-3 and 9-7 probably isn't a playoff team anyway), and the Bucs 3-2 is simply an artifact of an easy first two games. And the 8 includes Washington and Minnesota, neither of whom are necessarily good.
Unfortunately there's a bad, bad side. The Bears next three weeks are Washington at home, bye, and at Buffalo. They should be 6-2 after that but the Redskins have shown some flashes; we can re-assess in another two hours. However the second half of the season is a nightmare. Except for one game at Detroit, they play potential playoff team every week. By the time they play the Vikings in week 15, Minnesota's goose may have been cooked but that still looks to be team you won't walk over. The good news is the Jets, Patriots, and Eagles all come to Soldier Field which means they're likely to win one of those. Still 3-5 or even 2-6 isn't out of the question.
You play the games one at a time, but basically the Bears have to beat Washington and Buffalo then home they can manage to go 4-4 the rest of the way and finish at 10-6, which almost certainly gets them in the playoffs. Or it's going to be a disappointing season that started 4-1 and didn't finish with a playoff berth, which would sadly mean the end for Lovie Smith.
The good news is that after 6 weeks, the number of NFC team with a better record than the Bears is 0. There are 4 other teams at 4-2. And the Bears are one of only 8 teams fighting for 5 playoff spots. This assumes that only the NFC West champion will make the playoffs (likely but not a guarantee), the Cowboys at 1-4 are done (hard to see them going 8-3 and 9-7 probably isn't a playoff team anyway), and the Bucs 3-2 is simply an artifact of an easy first two games. And the 8 includes Washington and Minnesota, neither of whom are necessarily good.
Unfortunately there's a bad, bad side. The Bears next three weeks are Washington at home, bye, and at Buffalo. They should be 6-2 after that but the Redskins have shown some flashes; we can re-assess in another two hours. However the second half of the season is a nightmare. Except for one game at Detroit, they play potential playoff team every week. By the time they play the Vikings in week 15, Minnesota's goose may have been cooked but that still looks to be team you won't walk over. The good news is the Jets, Patriots, and Eagles all come to Soldier Field which means they're likely to win one of those. Still 3-5 or even 2-6 isn't out of the question.
You play the games one at a time, but basically the Bears have to beat Washington and Buffalo then home they can manage to go 4-4 the rest of the way and finish at 10-6, which almost certainly gets them in the playoffs. Or it's going to be a disappointing season that started 4-1 and didn't finish with a playoff berth, which would sadly mean the end for Lovie Smith.
No Limit comes to Washington
Well, sort of.
While playing poker in casinos has been legal as long as I remember, Washington has a screwed up set of laws. First the maximum poker bet in tribal ("Indian") casinos has been $500, but in card rooms the max was $20 when I started playing several years ago. They upped the maximum to $40 about 3 or 4 years ago which led to a bunch of 20-40 limit games, which is actually decent stakes, and some 2-40 spread limit. The 2-40 game was a huge improvement over the 3-6 and 4-8 limit games that dominated the area. Not only could you bet enough to get people to fold but you had huge implied odds which made it "correct" the play a lot of speculative hands, even against raises. This led to much more action and much more profit. But still it wasn't even close to no limit -- the $40 max came into play in almost every raised pot.
The Washington Gaming Commission has been debating higher limits probably since the day they upped the limit to $40. Finally a month ago they decided to allow a trial of hold 'em with a $100 max bet with the law going into affect 30 days later. Friday the 15th was day 30 and The Hideaway was one of the places that got a 3-100 spread game going. It's still not true no limit but in playing a few hours I only saw one hand where the $100 max came into affect. With a $200 max buy-in, you run out of chip before you run into the cap. Note that if someone bets $40, you can then raise to $140. It's really hard to have a deep enough stack and big enough pot that you'd want to bet more than $100.
Anyway, I played in the inaugural game after work on Friday. Lots of people were interested in playing or at least willing to try. The game was really good. I doubled my buy in over 3-4 hours and it would have been much, much better had I not lost a huge pot on a bad suck out. But that's poker.
I expect I'll still play at Snoqualmie with the 2-5 no limit, but this game is a good alternative.
While playing poker in casinos has been legal as long as I remember, Washington has a screwed up set of laws. First the maximum poker bet in tribal ("Indian") casinos has been $500, but in card rooms the max was $20 when I started playing several years ago. They upped the maximum to $40 about 3 or 4 years ago which led to a bunch of 20-40 limit games, which is actually decent stakes, and some 2-40 spread limit. The 2-40 game was a huge improvement over the 3-6 and 4-8 limit games that dominated the area. Not only could you bet enough to get people to fold but you had huge implied odds which made it "correct" the play a lot of speculative hands, even against raises. This led to much more action and much more profit. But still it wasn't even close to no limit -- the $40 max came into play in almost every raised pot.
The Washington Gaming Commission has been debating higher limits probably since the day they upped the limit to $40. Finally a month ago they decided to allow a trial of hold 'em with a $100 max bet with the law going into affect 30 days later. Friday the 15th was day 30 and The Hideaway was one of the places that got a 3-100 spread game going. It's still not true no limit but in playing a few hours I only saw one hand where the $100 max came into affect. With a $200 max buy-in, you run out of chip before you run into the cap. Note that if someone bets $40, you can then raise to $140. It's really hard to have a deep enough stack and big enough pot that you'd want to bet more than $100.
Anyway, I played in the inaugural game after work on Friday. Lots of people were interested in playing or at least willing to try. The game was really good. I doubled my buy in over 3-4 hours and it would have been much, much better had I not lost a huge pot on a bad suck out. But that's poker.
I expect I'll still play at Snoqualmie with the 2-5 no limit, but this game is a good alternative.
Sunday, October 10
Hideaway Fall Classic
One of my disappointments in the local poker scene is the lack of reasonably priced deep stack events -- tournaments where you actually play some poker before you get to the stage where everyone is shoving all-in every hand. Either you have daily $30-60 tournaments that are fast with little or no skill or $500+ special events like Tulalip's 10-10-10 $1010 event. So I was excited when I saw The Hideaway was having a Fall Classic with a series of reasonably priced events $60-120 and $240 for the main event with a lot of chips to start with and 20-minute rounds.
I played in a few of these. The first was a $60 buy-in tournament starting with 30K chips (100-200 blinds) and 20-minute levels -- their normal tournament but twice as much play. I didn't play very well and went out early. The second event was an interesting twist on a team tournament. Normally in a team tournament, the teammates switch who's playing every level (15 - 30 minutes). In this tournament each team member was part of a pool of 20 players. Each pool played its own tournament with the top 3 getting paid. Then the top team, based on the ranks of its team members, wins 25% of the total prize pool. I finished 4th in my pool and Meier got 3rd in his pool, which made us the top team. We'll take it but we both feel like we could/should have won our individual pools as well. Meier in particular got unlucky on his last two hands or could have been heads up with 2/3 of the chips.
I had a Mariners conflict and missed the Omaha/8 tournament which I wanted to play. I played the NL bounty tournament Friday AM and finished with two bounties and go unlucky and busted at the final table.
Then I played the HORSE tournament on Saturday. HORSE is a mixed game where you play Hold 'em, Omaha/8, Razz, Stud, and stud/Eight. (Yeh, the "E" is kind of a stretch.) Anyway, the tournament sucked and everyone who played in it thought so too. Basically they started with too many chips for everyone given it's a fixed limit structure and raised the blinds too slowly. I played 6 hours before busting at which point they got to the final table of 8 from 24 who started. A tournament of this nature shouldn't take 6 hours to complete much less to just get to the final table. We spent 3 hours just passing chips back and forth when the blinds were tiny. Then played some poker for a couple hours, then hit a shove fest where it came down to who caught cards. Oh well. Was fun to play HORSE for real and I'd probably go back for their cash game. But I'd never play a structure like that again.
For the series, I think I wound up slightly ahead -- cashing once in the team tournament to pay for my four entry fees and having the bounties as profit.
No poker as I'm busy at work. Played a silly social game Sunday night. I'm not even sure you could call it poker. Looking to play on Friday when the card room max jumps from $40 to $100 and there's going to be 1/3 "no limit" at the Hideaway.
I played in a few of these. The first was a $60 buy-in tournament starting with 30K chips (100-200 blinds) and 20-minute levels -- their normal tournament but twice as much play. I didn't play very well and went out early. The second event was an interesting twist on a team tournament. Normally in a team tournament, the teammates switch who's playing every level (15 - 30 minutes). In this tournament each team member was part of a pool of 20 players. Each pool played its own tournament with the top 3 getting paid. Then the top team, based on the ranks of its team members, wins 25% of the total prize pool. I finished 4th in my pool and Meier got 3rd in his pool, which made us the top team. We'll take it but we both feel like we could/should have won our individual pools as well. Meier in particular got unlucky on his last two hands or could have been heads up with 2/3 of the chips.
I had a Mariners conflict and missed the Omaha/8 tournament which I wanted to play. I played the NL bounty tournament Friday AM and finished with two bounties and go unlucky and busted at the final table.
Then I played the HORSE tournament on Saturday. HORSE is a mixed game where you play Hold 'em, Omaha/8, Razz, Stud, and stud/Eight. (Yeh, the "E" is kind of a stretch.) Anyway, the tournament sucked and everyone who played in it thought so too. Basically they started with too many chips for everyone given it's a fixed limit structure and raised the blinds too slowly. I played 6 hours before busting at which point they got to the final table of 8 from 24 who started. A tournament of this nature shouldn't take 6 hours to complete much less to just get to the final table. We spent 3 hours just passing chips back and forth when the blinds were tiny. Then played some poker for a couple hours, then hit a shove fest where it came down to who caught cards. Oh well. Was fun to play HORSE for real and I'd probably go back for their cash game. But I'd never play a structure like that again.
For the series, I think I wound up slightly ahead -- cashing once in the team tournament to pay for my four entry fees and having the bounties as profit.
No poker as I'm busy at work. Played a silly social game Sunday night. I'm not even sure you could call it poker. Looking to play on Friday when the card room max jumps from $40 to $100 and there's going to be 1/3 "no limit" at the Hideaway.
Saturday, October 9
Toronto and Buffalo
Before going back to work I got in one last vacation. My friends Meier and Nanci were going to Buffalo for a week with a two-day side trip to Toronto in the middle. Having never been to either or Niagara Falls, at least that I remember, I decided to join them for part of the trip. When am I ever going to have a chance to see Buffalo or Toronto?
Flew into Toronto on Monday and they met me at the airport after I passed through customs. We drove to downtown Toronto and wandered around. Perhaps the most interesting things we saw was Paws Way, which is as cute as the pictures on their web site. It's part dog history museum, part educational facility, part shop, and part training center. They also have a little cafe in the front. I had no idea such a thing existed anywhere. Had dinner at Il Fornello. Went back to our hotel, which was all the way back by the airport, but not before driving through the large Jewish neighborhood of Toronto. Next day we got a late start, saw Casa Loma (house on the hill) which is a famous historic castle. After being there and watching some house hunters, I decided our home should have a fancy name. So now we live at "Casa Oso" or perhaps we should call it "Casa Oso de miel".
We had a late lunch then spent an hour at the Shoe museum which was surprisingly OK. By pure coincidence the Mariners were in town, so we went to the Blue Jays game that night. We had checked ahead and thought it would be fun to see a game in Toronto. Of course, the Mariners lost and looked terrible, but made it interesting in the 9th. Ichiro had 4 hits. And the stadium was empty. We complain about the Mariners drawing 10-15K, but there must have been only about 4000 people at the game though the Jays reported 12K paid. Before going to the game Nanci and I went up the CN Tower and had great views of the city and a cool view looking straight down on Rogers Centre (nee the Skydome).
Went back to the airport hotel, got some sleep then got up the next "morning" and headed to Niagara Falls on the way to Buffalo.
Niagara Falls was awesome. A picture is worth 1000 words.
We had hoped to play poker at Casino Niagara but they had a couple of dealers call in sick and had 15 names on the wait list. I found this stunning as I'm sure they could have found back up dealers. In this economy every dealer is looking to pick up extra shifts. Then back to the US of A. Buffalo isn't very touristy. After Meier and Nanci dropped me at my hotel I walked around downtown for a little bit and saw some of the historic buildings. Meier picked me up later and we went to Duff's for buffalo wings with Nanci's family -- how can you go to Buffalo and not have wings?! Wings were good but we all ate too much. Meier and I headed back to the Falls to play some poker, actually wound up playing on the New York side and had an interesting border crossing at 2:30 AM when we wanted to go back to pick up poker chips. Ended OK but got home very, very late.
Thursday I got up and wandered around town by myself. Walked down to Coca-Cola Field, then walked along the waterfront and looked across to Canada. Meier met me and we discovered that City Hall has a free viewpoint on the 28th floor so we got a good look at the city. Then it was back to eating -- some famous hot dog place that didn't impress me at all and Anderson's for custard (soft serve ice cream) which was pretty good. Then airport and home.
Lots packed in in just four days.
Flew into Toronto on Monday and they met me at the airport after I passed through customs. We drove to downtown Toronto and wandered around. Perhaps the most interesting things we saw was Paws Way, which is as cute as the pictures on their web site. It's part dog history museum, part educational facility, part shop, and part training center. They also have a little cafe in the front. I had no idea such a thing existed anywhere. Had dinner at Il Fornello. Went back to our hotel, which was all the way back by the airport, but not before driving through the large Jewish neighborhood of Toronto. Next day we got a late start, saw Casa Loma (house on the hill) which is a famous historic castle. After being there and watching some house hunters, I decided our home should have a fancy name. So now we live at "Casa Oso" or perhaps we should call it "Casa Oso de miel".
We had a late lunch then spent an hour at the Shoe museum which was surprisingly OK. By pure coincidence the Mariners were in town, so we went to the Blue Jays game that night. We had checked ahead and thought it would be fun to see a game in Toronto. Of course, the Mariners lost and looked terrible, but made it interesting in the 9th. Ichiro had 4 hits. And the stadium was empty. We complain about the Mariners drawing 10-15K, but there must have been only about 4000 people at the game though the Jays reported 12K paid. Before going to the game Nanci and I went up the CN Tower and had great views of the city and a cool view looking straight down on Rogers Centre (nee the Skydome).
Niagara Falls was awesome. A picture is worth 1000 words.
We had hoped to play poker at Casino Niagara but they had a couple of dealers call in sick and had 15 names on the wait list. I found this stunning as I'm sure they could have found back up dealers. In this economy every dealer is looking to pick up extra shifts. Then back to the US of A. Buffalo isn't very touristy. After Meier and Nanci dropped me at my hotel I walked around downtown for a little bit and saw some of the historic buildings. Meier picked me up later and we went to Duff's for buffalo wings with Nanci's family -- how can you go to Buffalo and not have wings?! Wings were good but we all ate too much. Meier and I headed back to the Falls to play some poker, actually wound up playing on the New York side and had an interesting border crossing at 2:30 AM when we wanted to go back to pick up poker chips. Ended OK but got home very, very late.
Thursday I got up and wandered around town by myself. Walked down to Coca-Cola Field, then walked along the waterfront and looked across to Canada. Meier met me and we discovered that City Hall has a free viewpoint on the 28th floor so we got a good look at the city. Then it was back to eating -- some famous hot dog place that didn't impress me at all and Anderson's for custard (soft serve ice cream) which was pretty good. Then airport and home.
Lots packed in in just four days.
Sunday, September 26
Crazy Hot Poker Session
Spent most of last week in Toronto and Buffalo -- more on that later -- but wanted to share about a wild thing that happened to me playing poker. Meier and I were at Seneca Niagra Casino, on the US side of the Falls, playing 1-2 NL. After being down quickly, then building back my stack to be ahead, I'd been whittled down to about $65. Meier and I had already decided this was going to be our last orbit and we'd pick up and check out the other casinos. Warning: lots of poker content follows.
I'm under the gun (first after the blinds), so this is my "last" hand. I raise to $10 with TT and get three callers. The flop is 5-4-2 (or similar), I bet $30 and get one caller who we'll call Loose Gambler (LG) because he's a gambler as we'll see. The turn is a jack and I push my last $25 in and LG folds. I'm up to $125 now and it's time to go. However Meier suggests we play one more orbit and I say OK.
BB: UTG+1 raises to 5, not a play I'd seen him make before, and a strange range because anyone who would call 2 will call 5. Action comes to be and I re-raise to 20 with JJ. Honestly I had checked out and hadn't realized that three people had called and thus my raise was too small. Three people called the $20 making an $80 pot. Flop 9-9-7, I bet $45, LG shoves for $25 more. I think a bit and call and he shows K7 for a worse too pair and says "I hoped I could push you off AK". My jacks hold and in two hands, I'm up to $255. LG rebuys for $60.
SB: Meier raises to $8 UTG+1, there's a re-raise all-in for $20, I fold T8o, Meier calls. Flop J-7-x, turn 9. river blank and Meier shows T8s to snap QQ. (I think this was my SB hand.)
Button: I limp KJo behind several limpers. Flop K-J-T. SB leads for $6, three callers, I elect to just call; I'm probably best but it's possible there's a straight out there. I'll see the turn and re-evaluate. Turn K. SB says "I don't like the king" and checks. Everyone checks to me and I check, hoping to peal off an A or Q and have a straight pay me off. River 4. LG bets $10, I raise to $30, LG folds J4 face up. I show a jack. ($300)
CO: With about four limpers, I raise to $15 with KQ, LG re-raises blind to $36. Loose donkey in EP calls the $36. I re-raise to $100 to isolate. EP thinks for a while and calls his last $64 (Oops). Board runs out Q-4-x-J-x and EP shows K4s (yes, really he put his whole stack in with that). Blind LG flipped over his cards and had paired the board too. MHIG. Meier criticized my play but I didn't think the limp $2, call $36 was a trap with AA/KK from this guy and wanted to get my money in good. ($440)
HJ: With a few limpers, I limp TT (I know a raise will get called 4 ways). Meier raises to $12 and given his style his range is wide, he gets 4 callers and I bump it to $90. If he has AA-QQ, so be it. He folds and everyone folds being him. I show TT. ($490)
MP: I open raise to $12 with KQ, Meier calls on the button and we're heads up. Flop A-Q-Q. I figure Meier will bet the ace whether he has it or not, so I check but he checks behind. Turn is a blank. I bet $15, he calls. River K, I bet $25, he thinks for a long time and calls with an ace. ($540)
I may have the previous two hands reversed. Or it's possible I folded from HJ and these are both MP hands.
MP: I limp 77 after several limpers. Flop Jd-7c-4d; bingo, I hit my set. It checks to me and I check. The player to my left bets $6, a few people call, and I call planning to make a move on the turn. Turn is a diamond, everyone checks to me, I check, the flop bettor checks. River is a 4th diamond everyone checks. I turn over my hand, declare a set of 7s then realize I have 7d for a diamond flush; either is good. I played this hand terribly but still won $40. ($580)
UTG+1: I fold
UTG: I limp 5s4s. Several limpers behind me.Flop 4-4-3. Blinds check, and I bet $8. Slow playing is just a bad idea plus there are draws on the board. UTG+1 calls, UTG+2 thinks a long time and folds (77), BB calls. Turn 5, BB checks, I bet $20, UTG+1 calls, BB shoves for $15 more and we both call. As the river is coming out, UTG+1 says "who gets to check first?". River is a blank (high card I think). I bet $65 and UTG+1 folds. BB shows 43 for the flopped boat. Wow, not only did I flop trips but then I hit the three-outer I needed to win the hand. ($675)
Overall in one orbit plus a hand I won 8 of 10 or 11 hands, folded the others pre-flop and went from $65 to $675. I'll probably never have a run like that again.
I'm under the gun (first after the blinds), so this is my "last" hand. I raise to $10 with TT and get three callers. The flop is 5-4-2 (or similar), I bet $30 and get one caller who we'll call Loose Gambler (LG) because he's a gambler as we'll see. The turn is a jack and I push my last $25 in and LG folds. I'm up to $125 now and it's time to go. However Meier suggests we play one more orbit and I say OK.
BB: UTG+1 raises to 5, not a play I'd seen him make before, and a strange range because anyone who would call 2 will call 5. Action comes to be and I re-raise to 20 with JJ. Honestly I had checked out and hadn't realized that three people had called and thus my raise was too small. Three people called the $20 making an $80 pot. Flop 9-9-7, I bet $45, LG shoves for $25 more. I think a bit and call and he shows K7 for a worse too pair and says "I hoped I could push you off AK". My jacks hold and in two hands, I'm up to $255. LG rebuys for $60.
SB: Meier raises to $8 UTG+1, there's a re-raise all-in for $20, I fold T8o, Meier calls. Flop J-7-x, turn 9. river blank and Meier shows T8s to snap QQ. (I think this was my SB hand.)
Button: I limp KJo behind several limpers. Flop K-J-T. SB leads for $6, three callers, I elect to just call; I'm probably best but it's possible there's a straight out there. I'll see the turn and re-evaluate. Turn K. SB says "I don't like the king" and checks. Everyone checks to me and I check, hoping to peal off an A or Q and have a straight pay me off. River 4. LG bets $10, I raise to $30, LG folds J4 face up. I show a jack. ($300)
CO: With about four limpers, I raise to $15 with KQ, LG re-raises blind to $36. Loose donkey in EP calls the $36. I re-raise to $100 to isolate. EP thinks for a while and calls his last $64 (Oops). Board runs out Q-4-x-J-x and EP shows K4s (yes, really he put his whole stack in with that). Blind LG flipped over his cards and had paired the board too. MHIG. Meier criticized my play but I didn't think the limp $2, call $36 was a trap with AA/KK from this guy and wanted to get my money in good. ($440)
HJ: With a few limpers, I limp TT (I know a raise will get called 4 ways). Meier raises to $12 and given his style his range is wide, he gets 4 callers and I bump it to $90. If he has AA-QQ, so be it. He folds and everyone folds being him. I show TT. ($490)
MP: I open raise to $12 with KQ, Meier calls on the button and we're heads up. Flop A-Q-Q. I figure Meier will bet the ace whether he has it or not, so I check but he checks behind. Turn is a blank. I bet $15, he calls. River K, I bet $25, he thinks for a long time and calls with an ace. ($540)
I may have the previous two hands reversed. Or it's possible I folded from HJ and these are both MP hands.
MP: I limp 77 after several limpers. Flop Jd-7c-4d; bingo, I hit my set. It checks to me and I check. The player to my left bets $6, a few people call, and I call planning to make a move on the turn. Turn is a diamond, everyone checks to me, I check, the flop bettor checks. River is a 4th diamond everyone checks. I turn over my hand, declare a set of 7s then realize I have 7d for a diamond flush; either is good. I played this hand terribly but still won $40. ($580)
UTG+1: I fold
UTG: I limp 5s4s. Several limpers behind me.Flop 4-4-3. Blinds check, and I bet $8. Slow playing is just a bad idea plus there are draws on the board. UTG+1 calls, UTG+2 thinks a long time and folds (77), BB calls. Turn 5, BB checks, I bet $20, UTG+1 calls, BB shoves for $15 more and we both call. As the river is coming out, UTG+1 says "who gets to check first?". River is a blank (high card I think). I bet $65 and UTG+1 folds. BB shows 43 for the flopped boat. Wow, not only did I flop trips but then I hit the three-outer I needed to win the hand. ($675)
Overall in one orbit plus a hand I won 8 of 10 or 11 hands, folded the others pre-flop and went from $65 to $675. I'll probably never have a run like that again.
Tuesday, September 14
Trip to Chicago (Vacation)
We spent most of this past week in Chicago. We went for Monica's niece's first birthday party. Her actual birthday was two weeks before, but they scheduled the party around when we could be in town. How nice.
Usually when we go to Chicago for a family event, our trip is all spending time with family and not really a vacation. The most touristy thing we do is "go to the mall". But we actually managed to combine a bit of vacation with this trip. With three young kids in the house, Monica and I wisely chose to stay in a hotel, which gave us some space but also meant we weren't tied to the family schedule. In part because of that, we actually got to play tourist.
Sunday was about Lily's birthday party, a nice brunch buffet at a local hall, which coincidentally was a 5-minute walk from our hotel. Then we headed to Monica's sister's house to watch the Storm-Mercury game (well, I watched) and hang out. Monday we went to the Cubs game which was a unique experience. Monica got tickets at Costco to sit on a rooftop across the street from the ballpark. The provide an all-you-can eat and drink menu along with first-come, first served seating. We were on the lower roof deck, protected from the weather and with a surprisingly good view of the field from beyond right field. They also have TVs set up so you don't miss anything and bathrooms and what not. Between the four of us, we had one beer, but a lot of people must have run a beer per inning. It's come a long way from when people used to sit on the roofs with lawn chairs and a charcoal grill. I'd certainly recommend trying it once and it's probably a great way to see the game when the Cubs make the playoffs again. But I think I prefer to be in the ballpark, closer to the action.
We drove back after the game and since it was Labor Day, there was surprisingly little traffic. Was actually a pleasant drive rather than a long aggravation. Went out to dinner at Claim Jumper (Monica's favorite) and had salads, since none of us were very hungry after lunch.
Tuesday we went to Long Grove and walked around the shop with Sandra and Ariana. Had a nice lunch and bought lots of stuff (see clothes, Monica) but it was sad to see the place basically deserted. Spent Tuesday evening cooking brisket for Rosh Hashanah and cooking dinner (pasta, rice) for the sick bay. Wednesday Monica and I went downtown to the Planetarium and then browsing along the Miracle Mile. We saw social networking at its best. After I posted on Facebook that I was in downtown Chicago, one of my poker buddies saw it and text messaged me about meeting for lunch. We were able to meet him without any advance planning -- the way Facebook places should work. Raced home later than we planned and got to Sandra's for a nice holiday dinner.
Thursday AM we were up before the crack of dawn to catch our plane home.
Seems like we did a lot in what was really four days in Chicago.
Usually when we go to Chicago for a family event, our trip is all spending time with family and not really a vacation. The most touristy thing we do is "go to the mall". But we actually managed to combine a bit of vacation with this trip. With three young kids in the house, Monica and I wisely chose to stay in a hotel, which gave us some space but also meant we weren't tied to the family schedule. In part because of that, we actually got to play tourist.
Sunday was about Lily's birthday party, a nice brunch buffet at a local hall, which coincidentally was a 5-minute walk from our hotel. Then we headed to Monica's sister's house to watch the Storm-Mercury game (well, I watched) and hang out. Monday we went to the Cubs game which was a unique experience. Monica got tickets at Costco to sit on a rooftop across the street from the ballpark. The provide an all-you-can eat and drink menu along with first-come, first served seating. We were on the lower roof deck, protected from the weather and with a surprisingly good view of the field from beyond right field. They also have TVs set up so you don't miss anything and bathrooms and what not. Between the four of us, we had one beer, but a lot of people must have run a beer per inning. It's come a long way from when people used to sit on the roofs with lawn chairs and a charcoal grill. I'd certainly recommend trying it once and it's probably a great way to see the game when the Cubs make the playoffs again. But I think I prefer to be in the ballpark, closer to the action.
We drove back after the game and since it was Labor Day, there was surprisingly little traffic. Was actually a pleasant drive rather than a long aggravation. Went out to dinner at Claim Jumper (Monica's favorite) and had salads, since none of us were very hungry after lunch.
Tuesday we went to Long Grove and walked around the shop with Sandra and Ariana. Had a nice lunch and bought lots of stuff (see clothes, Monica) but it was sad to see the place basically deserted. Spent Tuesday evening cooking brisket for Rosh Hashanah and cooking dinner (pasta, rice) for the sick bay. Wednesday Monica and I went downtown to the Planetarium and then browsing along the Miracle Mile. We saw social networking at its best. After I posted on Facebook that I was in downtown Chicago, one of my poker buddies saw it and text messaged me about meeting for lunch. We were able to meet him without any advance planning -- the way Facebook places should work. Raced home later than we planned and got to Sandra's for a nice holiday dinner.
Thursday AM we were up before the crack of dawn to catch our plane home.
Seems like we did a lot in what was really four days in Chicago.
Tuesday, August 31
Back to No Limit
I played 2-5 no limit at Snoqualmie Casino last night for the first time in a couple of months. After a horrible start and an up and down session, I cashed out up 1/2 a buy-in.
My very first hand, I limp re-raised in a straddled pot with QQ and the raiser shoved all-in. I was pretty sure he had AA or KK and folded. It's possible I made a bad lay down not wanting to lose all of my chips on the first hand but I think it was right. Even so, it cost me half my stack. I had to add on a couple of times to have a healthy stack and was basically back to my starting chips when my big hand of the night came up.
I limped in middle position with pocket eights and 6 or 7 people saw a flop of Q-8-3 with two clubs. I bet $20 and a player check-raised to $70. He was one of my targets at the table, clearly willing to put a lot of money in on a draw or medium strength hand. Given he might be drawing and was unlikely to have QQ (and if he does, I lose all my chips), I re-raised him to about $170. He went all-in and I immediately called. The turn was a club, which I didn't like and the river was a blank. He showed KQ for one pair and I doubled up. Unfortunately I lost of bunch of those chips soon after on a bad bluff. I ground back over the rest of the evening and as noted cashed out well ahead.
I made a couple of poorly timed bluffs, but overall played pretty well though I was a bit rusty. Hope to go back soon.
My very first hand, I limp re-raised in a straddled pot with QQ and the raiser shoved all-in. I was pretty sure he had AA or KK and folded. It's possible I made a bad lay down not wanting to lose all of my chips on the first hand but I think it was right. Even so, it cost me half my stack. I had to add on a couple of times to have a healthy stack and was basically back to my starting chips when my big hand of the night came up.
I limped in middle position with pocket eights and 6 or 7 people saw a flop of Q-8-3 with two clubs. I bet $20 and a player check-raised to $70. He was one of my targets at the table, clearly willing to put a lot of money in on a draw or medium strength hand. Given he might be drawing and was unlikely to have QQ (and if he does, I lose all my chips), I re-raised him to about $170. He went all-in and I immediately called. The turn was a club, which I didn't like and the river was a blank. He showed KQ for one pair and I doubled up. Unfortunately I lost of bunch of those chips soon after on a bad bluff. I ground back over the rest of the evening and as noted cashed out well ahead.
I made a couple of poorly timed bluffs, but overall played pretty well though I was a bit rusty. Hope to go back soon.
Friday, August 20
Maybe There's Hope for Customer Service
One of the reasons I started this blog was a place to vent. Sometimes about stupid thing or frustrating sports teams, but often about bad customer service. And part of why I invested in a restaurant many years ago is I was so disappointed with the terrible service in restaurants that I felt if you could actually run a place with a brain and treat customers well, you'd succeed.
Monica have had some unbelievably bad experiences with people attempting to render customer services. Too many to list but here are a few examples. Monica ordered a hamburger without the sauce that usually comes on it. When it came with sauce she sent it back and they wiped the sauce off the bun and sent it back to her. We checked into a hotel and they gave us a key to the wrong room -- a room where someone was already checked in and Monica walked in on the couple. Fortunately they were sitting on the bed watching TV. And recently we tried out new house cleaners. You'd think people would want to make a good first impression to win your business. They called to say they'd be there between 2 and 3; that's a big range but OK. At 3:30 they called to say they were leaving Mercer Island and they arrived about 4 PM. I understand some technicians (plumber, electrician, computer repairman) could have a job be larger than they expected and run late. But how does a house cleaning job blow up and run over by two hours. We needed the house cleaned, but these people were "fired" before they ever started.
However, I'm glad to say that we've seen a few examples of good customer service of late which somewhat restores my faith in humanity.
(I thought I wrote about this before but can't find it.) Monica and I dined at Ruth's Chris Steak House in January. While nothing was so bad that we were really upset or I asked for a manager, we weren't exactly wowed the way we should be for fine dining. The only real problem was that Monica's fillet was undercooked then when they "fixed" it, the butter sauce made for a very crispy outside. I know from experience it's tricky to cook beef exactly right, but when you have "Steak" in your name you should get a steak right 95% of the time. Other things were minor and fixed as best they could at the time.
However, on the way home it dawned on us that they had problems with our table, our drinks, our salad, Monica's steak, and dessert. I send a nice but unhappy letter to the general manager to let them know about our experience. I got a phone call from the GM two days later who invited us to return on the house, much more than I asked for. Awesome.
And just this week. Expedia has a new "Priceline-like" feature where they'll sell you a discounted hotel without revealing its name. The downside is you don't know exactly which hotel you get and you can't cancel or change the reservation. I booked two rooms for our upcoming trip to Vancouver using this process. In reviewing my confirmation, I noticed that somehow the date got entered as 9/11 which is not what I needed. I called Expedia to ask if there was anything they could do since it was human error -- and I wasn't trying to beat the discount system. The customer rep called the hotel and they were gracious enough to cancel my reservation and refund a non-refundable payment. I'm not a once a month traveler, but I do use Expedia several times a year and they now have a very happy customer.
Monica made a massage appointment next door to the place where she works out and told the front desk person, who may be the manager, that she'd be coming from a workout. She'd done this before and it wasn't a problem. When she arrived, she apologized for being sweaty, and her massage therapist made some sort of snide remark about it. Monica decided to walk out since the guy apparently wasn't comfortable giving her a massage. At first I saw his side, but as I think about it, when I got for a massage they suggest I use the steam room or sauna first, so many people come a bit hot and sweaty. Anyway Monica told the front desk what happened at left. Later that night, Monica got an email from the manager apologizing for what happened, letting her know that therapist was no longer employed, and offering her a free massage if she'd like to come back. I think that's more than they needed to do, but they turned Monica from someone who will never come back and tell horror stories about the place into a likely regular customer... and one who will bring friends. And it cost them the price of one massage.
Monica have had some unbelievably bad experiences with people attempting to render customer services. Too many to list but here are a few examples. Monica ordered a hamburger without the sauce that usually comes on it. When it came with sauce she sent it back and they wiped the sauce off the bun and sent it back to her. We checked into a hotel and they gave us a key to the wrong room -- a room where someone was already checked in and Monica walked in on the couple. Fortunately they were sitting on the bed watching TV. And recently we tried out new house cleaners. You'd think people would want to make a good first impression to win your business. They called to say they'd be there between 2 and 3; that's a big range but OK. At 3:30 they called to say they were leaving Mercer Island and they arrived about 4 PM. I understand some technicians (plumber, electrician, computer repairman) could have a job be larger than they expected and run late. But how does a house cleaning job blow up and run over by two hours. We needed the house cleaned, but these people were "fired" before they ever started.
However, I'm glad to say that we've seen a few examples of good customer service of late which somewhat restores my faith in humanity.
(I thought I wrote about this before but can't find it.) Monica and I dined at Ruth's Chris Steak House in January. While nothing was so bad that we were really upset or I asked for a manager, we weren't exactly wowed the way we should be for fine dining. The only real problem was that Monica's fillet was undercooked then when they "fixed" it, the butter sauce made for a very crispy outside. I know from experience it's tricky to cook beef exactly right, but when you have "Steak" in your name you should get a steak right 95% of the time. Other things were minor and fixed as best they could at the time.
However, on the way home it dawned on us that they had problems with our table, our drinks, our salad, Monica's steak, and dessert. I send a nice but unhappy letter to the general manager to let them know about our experience. I got a phone call from the GM two days later who invited us to return on the house, much more than I asked for. Awesome.
And just this week. Expedia has a new "Priceline-like" feature where they'll sell you a discounted hotel without revealing its name. The downside is you don't know exactly which hotel you get and you can't cancel or change the reservation. I booked two rooms for our upcoming trip to Vancouver using this process. In reviewing my confirmation, I noticed that somehow the date got entered as 9/11 which is not what I needed. I called Expedia to ask if there was anything they could do since it was human error -- and I wasn't trying to beat the discount system. The customer rep called the hotel and they were gracious enough to cancel my reservation and refund a non-refundable payment. I'm not a once a month traveler, but I do use Expedia several times a year and they now have a very happy customer.
Monica made a massage appointment next door to the place where she works out and told the front desk person, who may be the manager, that she'd be coming from a workout. She'd done this before and it wasn't a problem. When she arrived, she apologized for being sweaty, and her massage therapist made some sort of snide remark about it. Monica decided to walk out since the guy apparently wasn't comfortable giving her a massage. At first I saw his side, but as I think about it, when I got for a massage they suggest I use the steam room or sauna first, so many people come a bit hot and sweaty. Anyway Monica told the front desk what happened at left. Later that night, Monica got an email from the manager apologizing for what happened, letting her know that therapist was no longer employed, and offering her a free massage if she'd like to come back. I think that's more than they needed to do, but they turned Monica from someone who will never come back and tell horror stories about the place into a likely regular customer... and one who will bring friends. And it cost them the price of one massage.
Thursday, August 19
Poker success
Made a nice comeback from my poker losses to cash out a big win last Thursday at Club Hollywood. Was a loose, weak game with people throwing money around. I made back my losses from the previous week and also ran good as opposed to running horribly bad. Big hand when my over pair and nut-flush redraw was actually behind on the turn and drew out against second-nut flush and the guy played the river poorly. Need to get back to Snoqualmie this week and play more no limit.
Also, Tommy is doing much better after a few days of recovery. In fact he probably has too much energy for his own good.
Also, Tommy is doing much better after a few days of recovery. In fact he probably has too much energy for his own good.
Saturday, August 14
Poor Old Dog
Tommy has been our foster dog for nearly two years. He's effectively ours as it seems unlikely he'll get adopted. He has a myriad of minor problems that make him a difficult adoption, perhaps the worst of which is that he's 13 and people don't want older dogs.
This morning Tommy slipped or stepped funny and badly sprained his front right leg. With two weak hind legs already, he was having a lot of trouble getting around. We took him to the vet and nothing is broken, which is the good news. The bad news is he appears to be in pain and is on bed rest for the next two weeks. We'll have to help him get outside and back inside to do his business. Yes, that's as much fun as it sounds. If there's a bright side, it's that Tommy isn't very active and we don't need to crate him to limit his activity. He does that on his own.
He's resting comfortably now, but is basically stuck downstairs until further notice. And he doesn't like to be picked up to be moved outside or brought back in. Fun, fun, fun.
This morning Tommy slipped or stepped funny and badly sprained his front right leg. With two weak hind legs already, he was having a lot of trouble getting around. We took him to the vet and nothing is broken, which is the good news. The bad news is he appears to be in pain and is on bed rest for the next two weeks. We'll have to help him get outside and back inside to do his business. Yes, that's as much fun as it sounds. If there's a bright side, it's that Tommy isn't very active and we don't need to crate him to limit his activity. He does that on his own.
Taxes
I finally finished my federal income taxes for 2009.
I've used TurboTax (or equivalent) for about 10 years. And as I look at the insane number of calculations and forms required to compute my taxes it's easy to remember why. However TurboTax has a horrible bug this year that wasted a ton of my time. It likely effects a small % of their users, but if it hits you, it grinds your computer to a halt. Basically if you have a large number of imported stock transactions AND you need to correct an error in these transactions which is common, the program uses a ton of memory and is very slow loading the imported transactions. Since I have a number of "managed accounts", I hit the limit quite easily. Fixing up the data that should have taken me an hour or two probably took 15-20 hours. All that time wasn't active -- much was click a button wait 5 minutes and do something else -- but it was too much. If I had known how long it would take, I might have taken a different route, like buying their competing software. Or paying someone to do our taxes. I'll have to see if they have this bug next year.
But they're done and I'm going to try to get a jump on 2010 taxes by doing a better job of tracking our donations.
I've used TurboTax (or equivalent) for about 10 years. And as I look at the insane number of calculations and forms required to compute my taxes it's easy to remember why. However TurboTax has a horrible bug this year that wasted a ton of my time. It likely effects a small % of their users, but if it hits you, it grinds your computer to a halt. Basically if you have a large number of imported stock transactions AND you need to correct an error in these transactions which is common, the program uses a ton of memory and is very slow loading the imported transactions. Since I have a number of "managed accounts", I hit the limit quite easily. Fixing up the data that should have taken me an hour or two probably took 15-20 hours. All that time wasn't active -- much was click a button wait 5 minutes and do something else -- but it was too much. If I had known how long it would take, I might have taken a different route, like buying their competing software. Or paying someone to do our taxes. I'll have to see if they have this bug next year.
But they're done and I'm going to try to get a jump on 2010 taxes by doing a better job of tracking our donations.
Tuesday, August 10
Poker update
Just hit the worst run of poker in my life. With Maor visiting from Zurich I wound up playing limit which was part of he problem. But really I missed most of my draws while it seemed every time I had a big starting hand people chased and caught on the river. Of course in a limit game even if they made a bad decision o get involved before the flop, their play is correct after the flop. This can lead to a wide variance when building big pots as a 2:1 favorite and losing.
Also hit some coolers and brutal suck outs. I ran flopped ace-high flush into flopped straight flush. That's a lose all your money hand though I could have lost more had I not realized I was beaten before all the money went in. Almost made a hero smooth call and saved two big bets. And I can't remember losing to more 2 and 3 outers ever. If a player has only two or three cards that will win him the hand, he'll get there 10% of the time but they sure hit a lot more than that...and in hands where the other guy would have lost a lot of money if he didn't hit.
Oh well. Can't change the past. Back to winning money later this week.
Also hit some coolers and brutal suck outs. I ran flopped ace-high flush into flopped straight flush. That's a lose all your money hand though I could have lost more had I not realized I was beaten before all the money went in. Almost made a hero smooth call and saved two big bets. And I can't remember losing to more 2 and 3 outers ever. If a player has only two or three cards that will win him the hand, he'll get there 10% of the time but they sure hit a lot more than that...and in hands where the other guy would have lost a lot of money if he didn't hit.
Oh well. Can't change the past. Back to winning money later this week.
Skeet shooting
Every December I make a list of things I want to do in the coming year -- new restaurants to try, places to visit, local activities to check out and so on. And every year it's the same list because somehow not much of it gets done.
I picked one item off the list a couple of weeks ago when Monica and I attended a Sounders game, well half of one. But this past week I did something very new a different even though it wasn't on the list, though it might have been had I known such a thing existed.
My financial consultant team at Merrill Lynch invited a bunch of clients and friends to the Seattle skeet and trap club to go shooting. I've never shot a gun in my life, aside from a water gun or nerf gun and neither prepares you for this. They spent an hour and a half teaching us and then held a competition.
My first challenge was that I'm right handed but left-eye dominant. They suggested I just close my left eye but that leaves me with 20/50 vision so I decided to learn to shoot left-handed. I surprised myself by hitting my first two practice shots but it was clearly beginners luck. It gets a lot harder once you aren't shooting straight on and the pigeons are going straight out.
Practice was OK. In the competitive round they split us into three groups bases on skill level; I was in the lowest group of course. I felt I did OK. I did better in the second round of 25 than the first round of 25 so that's improvement but still missed more than I hit. I guess most beginners did worse because I got 3rd place in the "cant shoot a darn" group. Yes Dad, there were more than three people in the group, probably 7-9.
Was fun to try something new and had a lot of fun. The food and wine served was an added bonus. I don't know if I'd do this again on my own but would be a great group activity. Only downside is my arms were sore for two days.
I picked one item off the list a couple of weeks ago when Monica and I attended a Sounders game, well half of one. But this past week I did something very new a different even though it wasn't on the list, though it might have been had I known such a thing existed.
My financial consultant team at Merrill Lynch invited a bunch of clients and friends to the Seattle skeet and trap club to go shooting. I've never shot a gun in my life, aside from a water gun or nerf gun and neither prepares you for this. They spent an hour and a half teaching us and then held a competition.
My first challenge was that I'm right handed but left-eye dominant. They suggested I just close my left eye but that leaves me with 20/50 vision so I decided to learn to shoot left-handed. I surprised myself by hitting my first two practice shots but it was clearly beginners luck. It gets a lot harder once you aren't shooting straight on and the pigeons are going straight out.
Practice was OK. In the competitive round they split us into three groups bases on skill level; I was in the lowest group of course. I felt I did OK. I did better in the second round of 25 than the first round of 25 so that's improvement but still missed more than I hit. I guess most beginners did worse because I got 3rd place in the "cant shoot a darn" group. Yes Dad, there were more than three people in the group, probably 7-9.
Was fun to try something new and had a lot of fun. The food and wine served was an added bonus. I don't know if I'd do this again on my own but would be a great group activity. Only downside is my arms were sore for two days.
Saturday, July 31
July Update
It's pretty clear that my blog has been neglected the past month. Even without a 9-5 job July is pretty crazy busy. I looked at the start of the month and there were about 5 days where Monica and I were actually free in the evenings and two of them were last night and tonight. A couple others opened up, but it's busy, busy, busy.
Softball really becomes a dominant factor in July. We have weeknight games which are always challenging to field a team. The playoffs start and takes a lot of time to get my team RSVPs and get ready for games. As league commissioner there are a lot of little things to deal with -- questions, complaints, issues, players going postal on umpires, etc. Oh and then I actually have to play softball. We won our first two games, including knocking off the #1 seed which was a great start. But then a bit injured and a bit shorthanded dropped our next two to finish in 3rd place. 3rd out of 11 teams isn't bad but when you think you have a championship caliber team and there are only 4 real contenders, 3rd of 4 isn't that exciting. Still we had a pretty good year, had a lot of fun, and were well behaved. My team actually likes each other which is a good thing.
Mariners. Yuck. Still going to a lot of games and watching/listening to my team. Cubs, ditto though obviously I'm not going to games. Can baseball season be over yet? I can't recall a year where my teams had so much "potential" and were so terrible. Can't believe the excitement is the Cubs reaching for .500 and the Mariners trying to avoid 100 losses.
Busy around the house. Deck is done. Hardwood floors are done. I put in grout between the hardwood floor and the tile edges. Learned a lot and will be easier next time. Of course, "next time" will probably be 20 years down the road and I won't remember anything. Don't you hate when that happens. Have been watering plants and the lawn now that summer has arrived and it doesn't rain anymore. Sadly everything is too wet in May and June and then dies in July and August. Re-arranged the art with help from my parents.
My mom and dad visited for 5 days last weekend and I spent a lot of time running around town with them. We mainly spent time at the Belleve Arts Fairs. Monica and I bought a few things for our house and my parents found an anniversary gift for us -- though we have to pick what we want and order it -- but I'm not sure they actually bought anything despite hours of looking at arts and crafts. They also helped with hanging art as noted. They are helpful, but it's really more their presence inspires me to hang things up. And dad likes putting up pictures.
Tommy has been getting acupuncture twice a week and will start the underwater treadmill next week. We're trying to strengthen his back and legs or at least make sure they don't get any worse. Cocoa has horrible yeast infections in his ears that won't quite clear up. They're better especially in one ear, but we're still working on it. Hunny Bear is good. He's suddenly the easy one.
With all that, I really haven't played much poker. I active in online forums thinking about my game, but really need to find time to play. Hard to believe, but someone it never quite happens.
Softball really becomes a dominant factor in July. We have weeknight games which are always challenging to field a team. The playoffs start and takes a lot of time to get my team RSVPs and get ready for games. As league commissioner there are a lot of little things to deal with -- questions, complaints, issues, players going postal on umpires, etc. Oh and then I actually have to play softball. We won our first two games, including knocking off the #1 seed which was a great start. But then a bit injured and a bit shorthanded dropped our next two to finish in 3rd place. 3rd out of 11 teams isn't bad but when you think you have a championship caliber team and there are only 4 real contenders, 3rd of 4 isn't that exciting. Still we had a pretty good year, had a lot of fun, and were well behaved. My team actually likes each other which is a good thing.
Mariners. Yuck. Still going to a lot of games and watching/listening to my team. Cubs, ditto though obviously I'm not going to games. Can baseball season be over yet? I can't recall a year where my teams had so much "potential" and were so terrible. Can't believe the excitement is the Cubs reaching for .500 and the Mariners trying to avoid 100 losses.
Busy around the house. Deck is done. Hardwood floors are done. I put in grout between the hardwood floor and the tile edges. Learned a lot and will be easier next time. Of course, "next time" will probably be 20 years down the road and I won't remember anything. Don't you hate when that happens. Have been watering plants and the lawn now that summer has arrived and it doesn't rain anymore. Sadly everything is too wet in May and June and then dies in July and August. Re-arranged the art with help from my parents.
My mom and dad visited for 5 days last weekend and I spent a lot of time running around town with them. We mainly spent time at the Belleve Arts Fairs. Monica and I bought a few things for our house and my parents found an anniversary gift for us -- though we have to pick what we want and order it -- but I'm not sure they actually bought anything despite hours of looking at arts and crafts. They also helped with hanging art as noted. They are helpful, but it's really more their presence inspires me to hang things up. And dad likes putting up pictures.
Tommy has been getting acupuncture twice a week and will start the underwater treadmill next week. We're trying to strengthen his back and legs or at least make sure they don't get any worse. Cocoa has horrible yeast infections in his ears that won't quite clear up. They're better especially in one ear, but we're still working on it. Hunny Bear is good. He's suddenly the easy one.
With all that, I really haven't played much poker. I active in online forums thinking about my game, but really need to find time to play. Hard to believe, but someone it never quite happens.
Saturday, July 10
Busy doing little things
The hardwood floors are done. Closet doors are back in finally. Just need to grout a couple of transitions.
The deck is coming along nicely. All the framing is done and decking is down for about 3/4 of the deck. Should be pretty close by the end of next week.
We fired our house cleaners this week. We've had the same cleaners since we moved in. At first they did really good work but as staffing has changed and I think one of the girls has gotten board, service has gone downhill. They're very slow and we find too much stuff that was outright missed.
Slowly working on straightening some stuff up, but it seems to get messed up faster than I can put things away.
We're temporarily a five dog household. Monica is watching two dogs while their families are away, coincidentally both beagles. Well, Monica's business is getting paid to watch the dogs, but I'm watching them. How do I handle having five dogs? Not very well.
Getting ready to go to the All-Star game next week. Quick one day in-and-out trip.
The deck is coming along nicely. All the framing is done and decking is down for about 3/4 of the deck. Should be pretty close by the end of next week.
We fired our house cleaners this week. We've had the same cleaners since we moved in. At first they did really good work but as staffing has changed and I think one of the girls has gotten board, service has gone downhill. They're very slow and we find too much stuff that was outright missed.
Slowly working on straightening some stuff up, but it seems to get messed up faster than I can put things away
We're temporarily a five dog household. Monica is watching two dogs while their families are away, coincidentally both beagles. Well, Monica's business is getting paid to watch the dogs, but I'm watching them. How do I handle having five dogs? Not very well.
Getting ready to go to the All-Star game next week. Quick one day in-and-out trip.
Thursday, July 8
Piniella
Just had to vent as there are those who think Lou is a great manager.
Much as it pains me to admit, Derrek Lee is done. This is hard to believe for a guy who was a superstar last year but 35-year-old first baseman often fall off a cliff. Lee's OPS by month are 679, 733, 706, and 638 so far in July. Anyone can have a bad month simply by not being "on" and getting unlucky. Lee has had one bad month and two terrible months. Digging deeper, Lee can't hit a fastball anymore. It's possible he's hurt and not admitting it but either way he's totally unproductive. Yet Piniella has run Lee out there every day hitting 3rd or 4th in the lineup. And here's the thing, if I can figure out Lee is done, why can't Piniella. Meanwhile he can't figure out how to get playing time for his four outfielders.
Here's an idea -- have one of them take fielding practice at first base. I suspect none of them have played first on a regular basis since high school if ever, but for a player with center fielder skills, first base should be easy to learn. Might not make Fukudome the every day 1B, but with a fly ball pitcher on the mound and facing a right-hander that's the type of thing winning teams do. And if you're going to play Lee, hit hit 6th or 7th.
Thankfully it sounds more and more like Lou is done after this year.
Much as it pains me to admit, Derrek Lee is done. This is hard to believe for a guy who was a superstar last year but 35-year-old first baseman often fall off a cliff. Lee's OPS by month are 679, 733, 706, and 638 so far in July. Anyone can have a bad month simply by not being "on" and getting unlucky. Lee has had one bad month and two terrible months. Digging deeper, Lee can't hit a fastball anymore. It's possible he's hurt and not admitting it but either way he's totally unproductive. Yet Piniella has run Lee out there every day hitting 3rd or 4th in the lineup. And here's the thing, if I can figure out Lee is done, why can't Piniella. Meanwhile he can't figure out how to get playing time for his four outfielders.
Here's an idea -- have one of them take fielding practice at first base. I suspect none of them have played first on a regular basis since high school if ever, but for a player with center fielder skills, first base should be easy to learn. Might not make Fukudome the every day 1B, but with a fly ball pitcher on the mound and facing a right-hander that's the type of thing winning teams do. And if you're going to play Lee, hit hit 6th or 7th.
Thankfully it sounds more and more like Lou is done after this year.
Thursday, July 1
Poker Tournament Win
Been working on a lot of small projects over the past couple of weeks.
Had cousins in town last weekend -- on their way to an Alaska cruise -- and spent much of Thursday, all day Friday and Saturday evening with them. Working on getting ready for 4th of July this week. Cleaning up, though Monica doesn't notice it, planting plants, making lists and checking them twice.
I took a break today and played the 11 AM tournament at Hideaway. As I've probably mentioned, this is the best local daily tournament as you start with 100 BB but it's still pretty fast. Was able to grind my way through with great short stack play and bully the table, despite losing half my stack with QQ vs AA, ironically with both of us limping in. One thing I like about this tournament is that the short stack play is terrible and any tournament like this involves mainly short stack play from about 12 players left. Stole blinds, but really I won because I won a bunch of races, mostly as a slight underdog. After the ugly QQ vs AA hand, I won KQ vs. 77, 33 vs a very short stack A6, KJ vs 99 for 75% of the chips, and on the final hand my JTs beat the small stacks Q6. I raised on the button and he called. Made a net of $300+.
Had cousins in town last weekend -- on their way to an Alaska cruise -- and spent much of Thursday, all day Friday and Saturday evening with them. Working on getting ready for 4th of July this week. Cleaning up, though Monica doesn't notice it, planting plants, making lists and checking them twice.
I took a break today and played the 11 AM tournament at Hideaway. As I've probably mentioned, this is the best local daily tournament as you start with 100 BB but it's still pretty fast. Was able to grind my way through with great short stack play and bully the table, despite losing half my stack with QQ vs AA, ironically with both of us limping in. One thing I like about this tournament is that the short stack play is terrible and any tournament like this involves mainly short stack play from about 12 players left. Stole blinds, but really I won because I won a bunch of races, mostly as a slight underdog. After the ugly QQ vs AA hand, I won KQ vs. 77, 33 vs a very short stack A6, KJ vs 99 for 75% of the chips, and on the final hand my JTs beat the small stacks Q6. I raised on the button and he called. Made a net of $300+.
Friday, June 25
Cubs Update
"Big Z is on a short leash"
From short leash to dog house in less than 24 hours. At least it gets Gorzelanny back in the rotation.
I loved Piniella's comment, basically how do you blame the defense when the guy hits the ball in the seats.
From short leash to dog house in less than 24 hours. At least it gets Gorzelanny back in the rotation.
I loved Piniella's comment, basically how do you blame the defense when the guy hits the ball in the seats.
Thursday, June 24
The Idiocy of the Cubs
The Cubs are in town which happens about once every 6 years, so I spent much of the past three days at the Mariners games. Looking at the talent on the team, I've been puzzled at why the Cubs have struggled this year. The starting pitching is so good, Zambrano has spent much of the year in the pen. Marshall and Marmol are great to close out games. And there's a collection of pretty good hitters.
Having looked closer, it's pretty apparent that there are two things going on. First, despite the names and reputations on the infielders they've been terrible this year. In fact Lee, Theriot, Castro, and Ramirez have all played below replacement level. That pretty much kills the offense. Lee's OPS is down 250 points from last year and he's played below his 10th percentile PECOTA projection. Theriot and Ramirez are below their 10% as well. In fact Ramirez put up 200 of the worst at bats ever before going on the DL. These three guys are 6 wins worse than projected already. To some degree, you can't do anything about good players sucking.
But then there's an insane about of stupid decision making going on. Lou Piniella is beloved in Seattle as the manager who got the Mariners to the playoffs, but I've never been impressed. The Cubs best hitters this year are Colvin, Soriano, Byrd, and Soto. It took until June before Colvin became a regular, Soriano is only playing 2/3 of the time, Soto spent most of the year hitting 7th or 8th and recently lost his starting job to Koyie Hill (who can't hit worth a lick). The Cubs worst hitters are Ramirez, Theriot, Baker, and Lee. Lee has hit 3rd or 4th all season, Theriot has hit leadoff until recently and Baker has been given the 3rd base job with Ramirez hurt. Now batting order doesn't matter much, but you have to think that getting the best hitters in the lineup every day at the top of the order and putting the weaker hitters at the bottom couldn't hurt.
Wait, but then there's the pitching. Tom Gorzelanny isn't the name that some of the others are but he was the Cubs best starter last year, though he had a terrible ERA because of a 62% strand rate -- a level so low it has to be bad luck. And this year he's been striking on > 1 batter per inning something matched by only 4 NL starters. He's probably the Cubs best starter again yet he's relegated to the bullpen, where he's been ineffective. That said, it's a pretty tough call who to put in the pen. Zambrano and Lilly are the 5th and 6th best starters but the Cubs have invested a lot in them and really need the big three to succeed. But Gorz has been too good to NOT to go every 5 days. Much like Colvin, it doesn't matter which OF you sit because he's better than all of them. Personally I'd put Lilly in the pen to see if he can get his act together but Big Z is on a short leash. Or I'd think about something radical like a six-man rotation letting them pitch a bit deeper into games.
That said, with the complete disaster by the infield, this team is dead in the water. But they're also making dumb decisions on a daily basis that cost the team runs and wins.
If there's a silver lining, it's doubtful Piniella will be back. I expect him to "retire" and become a broadcaster.
Having looked closer, it's pretty apparent that there are two things going on. First, despite the names and reputations on the infielders they've been terrible this year. In fact Lee, Theriot, Castro, and Ramirez have all played below replacement level. That pretty much kills the offense. Lee's OPS is down 250 points from last year and he's played below his 10th percentile PECOTA projection. Theriot and Ramirez are below their 10% as well. In fact Ramirez put up 200 of the worst at bats ever before going on the DL. These three guys are 6 wins worse than projected already. To some degree, you can't do anything about good players sucking.
But then there's an insane about of stupid decision making going on. Lou Piniella is beloved in Seattle as the manager who got the Mariners to the playoffs, but I've never been impressed. The Cubs best hitters this year are Colvin, Soriano, Byrd, and Soto. It took until June before Colvin became a regular, Soriano is only playing 2/3 of the time, Soto spent most of the year hitting 7th or 8th and recently lost his starting job to Koyie Hill (who can't hit worth a lick). The Cubs worst hitters are Ramirez, Theriot, Baker, and Lee. Lee has hit 3rd or 4th all season, Theriot has hit leadoff until recently and Baker has been given the 3rd base job with Ramirez hurt. Now batting order doesn't matter much, but you have to think that getting the best hitters in the lineup every day at the top of the order and putting the weaker hitters at the bottom couldn't hurt.
Wait, but then there's the pitching. Tom Gorzelanny isn't the name that some of the others are but he was the Cubs best starter last year, though he had a terrible ERA because of a 62% strand rate -- a level so low it has to be bad luck. And this year he's been striking on > 1 batter per inning something matched by only 4 NL starters. He's probably the Cubs best starter again yet he's relegated to the bullpen, where he's been ineffective. That said, it's a pretty tough call who to put in the pen. Zambrano and Lilly are the 5th and 6th best starters but the Cubs have invested a lot in them and really need the big three to succeed. But Gorz has been too good to NOT to go every 5 days. Much like Colvin, it doesn't matter which OF you sit because he's better than all of them. Personally I'd put Lilly in the pen to see if he can get his act together but Big Z is on a short leash. Or I'd think about something radical like a six-man rotation letting them pitch a bit deeper into games.
That said, with the complete disaster by the infield, this team is dead in the water. But they're also making dumb decisions on a daily basis that cost the team runs and wins.
If there's a silver lining, it's doubtful Piniella will be back. I expect him to "retire" and become a broadcaster.
Monday, June 21
Blogging is hard
No, not a self pity party just an observation. Even people who start blogs with the best of intentions tend to fail pretty quickly. Seems if I discover a new web site and it has a blog, the default is it hasn't been updated since 2009.
and I assume intending to post something new each day. He started April 1 and had 30 posts in April, which is awesome. He had a couple the first week of May, a couple over the next two weeks and then there's nothing for the past five weeks. In his quest for 365 he made it to 34. And sadly, this seems to be typical. Once you fall of the wagon of blogging daily, it's easy to throw your hands up in the air and give up all together.A guy I know recently started a blog and Facebook page "365 things to do...", i.e., one for each day of the year. My cousin David is one of the few people I know who's kept a blog running. But now that he has a job, he's gone 11 days without a post.
I wonder if blogs will simply go away. And people's "blogs" will be their stream of Facebook and Twitter comments. And that would be a bad thing because much as I love Twitter, you can't really have an extended though in 140 or even 280 characters. It's great for "Toy Story 3 is awesome. Loved it.", but it's not nearly enough space for real thoughts on why it was great, much less a real review.
When talking about poker, it's easy for me to Tweet ("Playing 2-5 at Snoqualmie. Three way all-in with QT and 87.") or post to Facebook ("Going to Hideaway to play the 11 AM tournament. Where's a good place in Shoreline to eat?") about my high level plans and hands but I can't actual discuss anything that happens.
Thus I hope I continue to blog, though it's going to be in spurts.
and I assume intending to post something new each day. He started April 1 and had 30 posts in April, which is awesome. He had a couple the first week of May, a couple over the next two weeks and then there's nothing for the past five weeks. In his quest for 365 he made it to 34. And sadly, this seems to be typical. Once you fall of the wagon of blogging daily, it's easy to throw your hands up in the air and give up all together.A guy I know recently started a blog and Facebook page "365 things to do...", i.e., one for each day of the year. My cousin David is one of the few people I know who's kept a blog running. But now that he has a job, he's gone 11 days without a post.
I wonder if blogs will simply go away. And people's "blogs" will be their stream of Facebook and Twitter comments. And that would be a bad thing because much as I love Twitter, you can't really have an extended though in 140 or even 280 characters. It's great for "Toy Story 3 is awesome. Loved it.", but it's not nearly enough space for real thoughts on why it was great, much less a real review.
When talking about poker, it's easy for me to Tweet ("Playing 2-5 at Snoqualmie. Three way all-in with QT and 87.") or post to Facebook ("Going to Hideaway to play the 11 AM tournament. Where's a good place in Shoreline to eat?") about my high level plans and hands but I can't actual discuss anything that happens.
Thus I hope I continue to blog, though it's going to be in spurts.
TGIM
Yes, really. Thank goodness it's Monday. This was a crazy weekend. Saturday we went to the Edmonds Art Fair. Monica wanted to go to the Fremont Fair -- I don't really like the Fremont Fair but it's one of those things you do for love and I'm willing to go every 4 years or so. But I thought it would be fun to try something different. The Edmonds Art fair was actually pretty good. It's a lot like Salmon Days with a lot of arts, crafts, and food vendors (honey, spice rubs), along with a couple of concessions areas, though not as big. Monica was really happy we went. However we walked around for a couple hours, then decided to walk into downtown Edmonds and walk around for another hour, then walked up hill to the car. Add in a long drive there, a longer drive home to get around the traffic on I-5 and it's a long day. But it didn't end there as I went to the Mariners game that night.
Sunday we got up all took all three dogs to the Furry 5K. They start the walk at 10 AM because they want to be done and get the dogs away before it gets hot. Hah! It was mid 50s and rainy. Monica and I were wet, a bit cold, and a bit unhappy. The dogs were all filthy messes but they had a great time. Unfortunately at the end of the walk, we just wanted to get home rather than spend much time at the vendor booths. Got back to the car and headed home just as the rain got a lot worse. The walk wasn't as exhausting physically as it was mentally.
Got home just in time to get a call from the JCC Softball League Coordinator about whether we should cancel softball games. This is the un-fun part of being league chair. People want to play, and you have to play in rain in Seattle, but no one wants to get hurt on wet outfield grass. They installed turf fields so the infields can take a lot of water. We'd already had one injury so we decided to cancel the rest of the day. Of course, 30 minutes later the rain stopped. Still I think the fields were really, really wet and the outfields weren't safe.
Had some lunch then took a nice hot shower. Then I went to the Storm game Sunday night. Great game, though Sue Bird got hurt.
Now it's Monday and I can relax and get some stuff done around the house. Though all I'm actually doing is email and blogging.
Sunday we got up all took all three dogs to the Furry 5K. They start the walk at 10 AM because they want to be done and get the dogs away before it gets hot. Hah! It was mid 50s and rainy. Monica and I were wet, a bit cold, and a bit unhappy. The dogs were all filthy messes but they had a great time. Unfortunately at the end of the walk, we just wanted to get home rather than spend much time at the vendor booths. Got back to the car and headed home just as the rain got a lot worse. The walk wasn't as exhausting physically as it was mentally.
Got home just in time to get a call from the JCC Softball League Coordinator about whether we should cancel softball games. This is the un-fun part of being league chair. People want to play, and you have to play in rain in Seattle, but no one wants to get hurt on wet outfield grass. They installed turf fields so the infields can take a lot of water. We'd already had one injury so we decided to cancel the rest of the day. Of course, 30 minutes later the rain stopped. Still I think the fields were really, really wet and the outfields weren't safe.
Had some lunch then took a nice hot shower. Then I went to the Storm game Sunday night. Great game, though Sue Bird got hurt.
Now it's Monday and I can relax and get some stuff done around the house. Though all I'm actually doing is email and blogging.
Thursday, June 17
Blackhawks
Wow, I guess I hadn't been following hockey very closely since I moved to Seattle. I hadn't realized the Blackhawks had been so bad for so long. The Blackhawks made the playoffs every year from 1970-1995. Since then they'd made the playoffs only in 2002 before this year and last year. One playoff appearance in 13 years, then the playoffs then a Stanley Cup final. Pretty quick return from the dead.
Home Improvement this week
Our hardwood floors are done. Our contractor just needs to put together some things he took apart to install the floors, like closet doors and the cover to the air return. And then the hardwood stairs go in which is a different project. We decided to just use solid white risers (the vertical part of the stairs), so I painted the MDF boards that he brought over. Thought it might take a couple hours, but with a roller and a long handle it took about 15 minutes for the actual painting.
Our deck is going, going. They delivered the new boards today.
I need to plant some fruit shrubs and trees. Seems like a good time as it's still wet and rainy. Also been working on our auction business a bit.
Played poker Tuesday night at Snoqualmie Casino. It was the first time I'd been there in three months. I came back from Las Vegas in March and was a bit frustrated and took a break. Between being out of town every weekend, finishing up work, and knowing I was going to Vegas, poker didn't fit in April or May, or when it did I met Meier in Seattle. Anyway, a very boring session. I saw two pocket pairs -- raised and flopped top set with jacks, called a raise and folded the flop with sixes -- and AK and AQ (won with both), and a bunch of nothing. Good news is I finished up a bit. A lot of times when card dead I play too many very speculative hands and wind up behind. I tightened up and just made money where I could. Bummer is that it was a very good table -- saw a number of pre-flop all-ins for $200 with marginal hands. Lots of money was being passed around. Couldn't really get much though.
Anyway, back to work on home projects.
Our deck is going, going. They delivered the new boards today.
I need to plant some fruit shrubs and trees. Seems like a good time as it's still wet and rainy. Also been working on our auction business a bit.
Played poker Tuesday night at Snoqualmie Casino. It was the first time I'd been there in three months. I came back from Las Vegas in March and was a bit frustrated and took a break. Between being out of town every weekend, finishing up work, and knowing I was going to Vegas, poker didn't fit in April or May, or when it did I met Meier in Seattle. Anyway, a very boring session. I saw two pocket pairs -- raised and flopped top set with jacks, called a raise and folded the flop with sixes -- and AK and AQ (won with both), and a bunch of nothing. Good news is I finished up a bit. A lot of times when card dead I play too many very speculative hands and wind up behind. I tightened up and just made money where I could. Bummer is that it was a very good table -- saw a number of pre-flop all-ins for $200 with marginal hands. Lots of money was being passed around. Couldn't really get much though.
Anyway, back to work on home projects.
Monday, June 14
Update
As expected I didn't blog from Las Vegas. I was doing some running updates on Twitter and Facebook. Just not enough time/dedication to sit for 10 minutes each day and blog.
Had a great time in Vegas. The weather was hot and sunny and I actually got to enjoy it for at least a few minutes each day. Yes most of my time was spent inside poker rooms -- which is why the weather in Vegas doesn't matter too much -- but I walked outside and spent a few mornings relaxing by the pool. Overall I wound up down a bit for the trip playing poker. I did really well the first week, then the second week I made a few mistakes and got a bit unlucky in a few hands. No doubt playing a lot improved my game. One of my big takeaways is learning to trust my reads -- i.e., whether my opponent has a hand or is bluffing -- which have been dead on. I've been pretty good but lost a few pots where I called and should have raised.
I played at about a dozen different poker rooms and stopped by two or three others just to take a look. Added to my chip collection and upgraded a number of other chips to excellent condition. I guess with all the action the WSOP brings to town a lot of places put new $1 chips in play. Speaking of which, one of the really cool things I did was to check out the WSOP action. Meier and I watched the $50,000 Players Championship where we could see 100 of the best -- or at least 100 of the wealthiest poker players -- up close. Basically every big name player was there, like an all-star game or sorts. I'd say 1/3 of the field was big name players anyone who follows the sport would recognize (Doyle Brunson, Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, etc.), 1/3 were guys some people would recognize or some knew that they won this or that tournament, and the rest appeared to be internet wonder kids. There were a bunch of young guys that didn't look at all familiar. In addition to watching the start, I came back three days later to sit in the studio and watch the final three battle it out. It's just what you see on TV. In fact if you watch on ESPN July 27th, you should be able to see me on TV.
Also met up with my cousins Roz and Irv while there and got to catch up. And I did a touristy thing and checked out the Auto Collection at Imperial Palace. Lots of cool, classic cars; Monica would love it.
Last week I spent catching up between handing our remodeling projects. With the floors being sanded and finished, I had to get the dogs out of the house every day. Our deck contractor also started the tear down of the existing deck. We knew some of the decking was bad, but as he's removed the decking up we can see how badly rotted some of the joists are.
The hardwood floor is basically done. The flooring is all in, sanded and finished. He just needs to reinstall the molding, air registers, and some other things that were removed. He's also going to install the hardwood stairs and then we're done with the inside. Deck project is going to take a while.
Had a great time in Vegas. The weather was hot and sunny and I actually got to enjoy it for at least a few minutes each day. Yes most of my time was spent inside poker rooms -- which is why the weather in Vegas doesn't matter too much -- but I walked outside and spent a few mornings relaxing by the pool. Overall I wound up down a bit for the trip playing poker. I did really well the first week, then the second week I made a few mistakes and got a bit unlucky in a few hands. No doubt playing a lot improved my game. One of my big takeaways is learning to trust my reads -- i.e., whether my opponent has a hand or is bluffing -- which have been dead on. I've been pretty good but lost a few pots where I called and should have raised.
I played at about a dozen different poker rooms and stopped by two or three others just to take a look. Added to my chip collection and upgraded a number of other chips to excellent condition. I guess with all the action the WSOP brings to town a lot of places put new $1 chips in play. Speaking of which, one of the really cool things I did was to check out the WSOP action. Meier and I watched the $50,000 Players Championship where we could see 100 of the best -- or at least 100 of the wealthiest poker players -- up close. Basically every big name player was there, like an all-star game or sorts. I'd say 1/3 of the field was big name players anyone who follows the sport would recognize (Doyle Brunson, Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, etc.), 1/3 were guys some people would recognize or some knew that they won this or that tournament, and the rest appeared to be internet wonder kids. There were a bunch of young guys that didn't look at all familiar. In addition to watching the start, I came back three days later to sit in the studio and watch the final three battle it out. It's just what you see on TV. In fact if you watch on ESPN July 27th, you should be able to see me on TV.
Also met up with my cousins Roz and Irv while there and got to catch up. And I did a touristy thing and checked out the Auto Collection at Imperial Palace. Lots of cool, classic cars; Monica would love it.
Last week I spent catching up between handing our remodeling projects. With the floors being sanded and finished, I had to get the dogs out of the house every day. Our deck contractor also started the tear down of the existing deck. We knew some of the decking was bad, but as he's removed the decking up we can see how badly rotted some of the joists are.
The hardwood floor is basically done. The flooring is all in, sanded and finished. He just needs to reinstall the molding, air registers, and some other things that were removed. He's also going to install the hardwood stairs and then we're done with the inside. Deck project is going to take a while.
Wednesday, May 26
In Las Vegas
I'm in Las Vegas for the next two weeks. In part I plan to play a lot of poker but I also want a long enough stay to enjoy the sun and other attractions.
As such I'm not blogging much. It's too hard to blog on an iPhone. In fact this post got deleted the first time. Currently Meier and I are at the El Cortez waiting to play poker. This isn't my first choice of poker room and really not in the top 20. Long story short. Meier came down to join me. The cheapest flight he could find was $340. But through Expedia he booked the same flight and three nights at the El Cortez for $260. That's just a bizarre deal. So we drove over to check into his room even though he's not staying here. And since were here we're going to try to play poker since we'd never come here again. I believe it's 50 cent-$1 no limit!!
As such I'm not blogging much. It's too hard to blog on an iPhone. In fact this post got deleted the first time. Currently Meier and I are at the El Cortez waiting to play poker. This isn't my first choice of poker room and really not in the top 20. Long story short. Meier came down to join me. The cheapest flight he could find was $340. But through Expedia he booked the same flight and three nights at the El Cortez for $260. That's just a bizarre deal. So we drove over to check into his room even though he's not staying here. And since were here we're going to try to play poker since we'd never come here again. I believe it's 50 cent-$1 no limit!!
Thursday, May 20
Day 11 and 12, Sports
Met a friend for breakfast at the Original Pancake House in Kirkland. On weekends this place is packed crazy, hard to find parking, and basically you give your name and walk around for 45 minutes. I was surprised that at 8:30 during the week I could park right in front and the place was empty.
Spent a bunch of time Wednesday trying to get my softball team in order. Everyone seems to be out of town this weekend and I'm trying to find subs to show up at 10 AM. Fun, fun, NOT. Also the floor guy came back to check on the hardwoods and how they're "settling". Can see the cherry wood getting darker already. We set the official date for him to finish and talked about doing the stairs as well. Will all wait until I'm back from Vegas.
Wednesday night went to the second Storm game of the season. I've been to two of two games so far and will likely make about two games the rest of the year. As I expected they were sloppy at times and looked great at times. They trailed most of the game but put in together in the last three minutes and won by 3. In the end it's a W not an L and that's all that counts.
Started some research on electric toothbrushes for Monica (why aren't these called teethbrushes?) and continued today. Down to a handful of choices. Basically got up today, had breakfast, did some misc stuff, tried to walk Hunny Bear until the drizzle turned to pouring rain and got ready to go to the Mariners game. When Aaron and I split up tickets before the season, I figured this would be a beautiful day to be outside and the Mariners would be fun to watch. Instead it was 50 and cold. The sun was out for a couple of innings, but then they closed the roof because storms were approaching. Then it was 50 in the shade and COLD. And the Mariners were terrible, down 3-1 going to the 9th. In the ninth they showed more life than they have in weeks and put together a great rally to win!! This was the first time I've seen them win in person this year (1-6). Aaron, who I share seats with, says they've won every game he's attended.
Got home, made dinner, and met with a photographer who's doing a family photo for us.
Spent a bunch of time Wednesday trying to get my softball team in order. Everyone seems to be out of town this weekend and I'm trying to find subs to show up at 10 AM. Fun, fun, NOT. Also the floor guy came back to check on the hardwoods and how they're "settling". Can see the cherry wood getting darker already. We set the official date for him to finish and talked about doing the stairs as well. Will all wait until I'm back from Vegas.
Wednesday night went to the second Storm game of the season. I've been to two of two games so far and will likely make about two games the rest of the year. As I expected they were sloppy at times and looked great at times. They trailed most of the game but put in together in the last three minutes and won by 3. In the end it's a W not an L and that's all that counts.
Started some research on electric toothbrushes for Monica (why aren't these called teethbrushes?) and continued today. Down to a handful of choices. Basically got up today, had breakfast, did some misc stuff, tried to walk Hunny Bear until the drizzle turned to pouring rain and got ready to go to the Mariners game. When Aaron and I split up tickets before the season, I figured this would be a beautiful day to be outside and the Mariners would be fun to watch. Instead it was 50 and cold. The sun was out for a couple of innings, but then they closed the roof because storms were approaching. Then it was 50 in the shade and COLD. And the Mariners were terrible, down 3-1 going to the 9th. In the ninth they showed more life than they have in weeks and put together a great rally to win!! This was the first time I've seen them win in person this year (1-6). Aaron, who I share seats with, says they've won every game he's attended.
Got home, made dinner, and met with a photographer who's doing a family photo for us.
Tuesday, May 18
Day 11, Cocoa's Birthday
Today was Cocoa's 6th birthday. He got some steak with breakfast, took a nap, then I dropped him off at daycare to hang out with his friends. There's a great picture of him on my and Monica's Facebook pages. Cocoa also got some steak for dinner.
Spent most of the day dealing with a couple of issues from the softball league where the rules are a bit ambiguous... and I thought we had fixed all the loopholes and confusion years ago. Also looked into purchasing a second home, either to flip it or as a rental. The previous owners started an illegal conversion to a duplex -- they never got any permits -- and then the bank foreclosed on them. The house is in limbo -- either the conversion needs to get the legal approval and be completed, or it needs to be reversed back to single-family housing and the bank certainly isn't going to spend any money to do so -- so it's selling at a big discount. Unclear how much work and time would be required to fix it.
Picked up Cocoa. The day care put a birthday hat on Cocoa and took a picture of him. He's adorable. Cocoa got more steak for dinner. I think he ate better than I did today. Then I made dinner for Monica and I -- salmon and brown rice -- and as I type this the brownies are out of the oven and cooling. Mmm, time for dessert.
Spent most of the day dealing with a couple of issues from the softball league where the rules are a bit ambiguous... and I thought we had fixed all the loopholes and confusion years ago. Also looked into purchasing a second home, either to flip it or as a rental. The previous owners started an illegal conversion to a duplex -- they never got any permits -- and then the bank foreclosed on them. The house is in limbo -- either the conversion needs to get the legal approval and be completed, or it needs to be reversed back to single-family housing and the bank certainly isn't going to spend any money to do so -- so it's selling at a big discount. Unclear how much work and time would be required to fix it.
Picked up Cocoa. The day care put a birthday hat on Cocoa and took a picture of him. He's adorable. Cocoa got more steak for dinner. I think he ate better than I did today. Then I made dinner for Monica and I -- salmon and brown rice -- and as I type this the brownies are out of the oven and cooling. Mmm, time for dessert.
Day 10, Monday
Took it easy and slept late. Didn't do much. Yay, me.
Met a friend to play poker for an hour at Parkers. Had never played there and not a bad place. Then met Monica and friends at Bell Square for dinner (Cheesecake Factory) and some browsing. Good news is we had great service. Bad news is I figure I get service like that once a year and we still have six months to go.
Tomorrow is Cocoa's birthday. We don't know how old he is.
Met a friend to play poker for an hour at Parkers. Had never played there and not a bad place. Then met Monica and friends at Bell Square for dinner (Cheesecake Factory) and some browsing. Good news is we had great service. Bad news is I figure I get service like that once a year and we still have six months to go.
Tomorrow is Cocoa's birthday. We don't know how old he is.
Monday, May 17
Friday and the weekend (long)
Friday I finished cleaning our outdoor furniture and moving it upstairs to the deck. We now have 10 chairs and a "bench", so it's more work than it sounds. Though it's mainly tedious -- lots of trips around the house. I moved our table on Sunday. It's big, glass, and heavy; that was actually work. And when I thought I was done, Monica said "hey let's put one chair downstairs so I can sit with the dogs". Score one point for well-written acceptance criteria.
Met my friend Jay for lunch on Friday and got to catch up. Jay's sort of like Griffey, Jr. -- he was the face and the star of our softball team for a number of years but was often injured and those injuries have finally led him to retire. What's that? Griffey hasn't retired yet?
Spent a lot of time over the weekend working on taxes, mainly stock sales, interest, and dividends. This is where having managed accounts -- like mutual funds but you own actual stocks -- becomes a pain. Lots and lots of stock transactions. Import/download is a life saver, but verifying is still a fair amount of work. Yuck!
In more fun stuff, Saturday I helped man the both for Monica at the Redmond pet fair. My role is basically to watch the booth when she needs a break and keep her company. It isn't busy enough and I don't really know enough about Ttouch or pet adoption counseling to share the booth. For the first time she's set up at one of these things, it was actually useful. I don't know if she'll actually get anyone who calls, but she talked to a number of people who seemed very interested in her services, took her card, and should call her. On of our observations mid-way through the day was that 10-3 was too long for this event. Everyone started packing up their booths at 2:30, so I guess we weren't alone in that view. I walked outside at 2:25 to get some fresh air and when I came back 1/3 of the "vendors" were gone. I think once the first person bailed, everyone else decided it was OK to follow suit. By 3:00, there was no one left.
Saturday night we went to a great dinner at Ruth's Chris, separate post coming. Sunday was mainly running around. We had softball in the morning and played one of the key games of the season. Before the 2008 season I split our team in two. We had developed a group of players who thought recreational co-ed softball was all about winning and not about having fun (OK they liked to have fun, but their idea of fun was winning). Their attitudes sucked and it made it no fun to play on Sunday. I kicked a couple people off the team a few of their friends from my team joined them and they decided to recruit a bunch of good players and form their own team. I wouldn't say this team is our rival but they're one of the better teams in the division, they care a lot about the final score, and half the players used to be on our team, so the game is special. We scored 3 runs in the top of the first and never trailed though the game was a toss up until we pulled away in the 6th and 7th innings. We played terrific defense which was the key and got them out running the bases four or five times, though the umpire missed one of the outs. Final was 13-6.
Sunday afternoon Hunny Bear had an acupuncture appointment. And then Sunday evening I went to the Storm Opening Night. The game was sloppy as I'd expect. Training camp is about 3 weeks in the WNBA and the star players don't get back from overseas until the last week. So you're watching a team that's practiced together for about 4 days. It was pretty ugly at times and the Storm had long stretches where they didn't score, but in the end they beat LA, their #1 rival, by about 10 points.
Oh yeh, Sprint 3 planning Sunday night.
Met my friend Jay for lunch on Friday and got to catch up. Jay's sort of like Griffey, Jr. -- he was the face and the star of our softball team for a number of years but was often injured and those injuries have finally led him to retire. What's that? Griffey hasn't retired yet?
Spent a lot of time over the weekend working on taxes, mainly stock sales, interest, and dividends. This is where having managed accounts -- like mutual funds but you own actual stocks -- becomes a pain. Lots and lots of stock transactions. Import/download is a life saver, but verifying is still a fair amount of work. Yuck!
In more fun stuff, Saturday I helped man the both for Monica at the Redmond pet fair. My role is basically to watch the booth when she needs a break and keep her company. It isn't busy enough and I don't really know enough about Ttouch or pet adoption counseling to share the booth. For the first time she's set up at one of these things, it was actually useful. I don't know if she'll actually get anyone who calls, but she talked to a number of people who seemed very interested in her services, took her card, and should call her. On of our observations mid-way through the day was that 10-3 was too long for this event. Everyone started packing up their booths at 2:30, so I guess we weren't alone in that view. I walked outside at 2:25 to get some fresh air and when I came back 1/3 of the "vendors" were gone. I think once the first person bailed, everyone else decided it was OK to follow suit. By 3:00, there was no one left.
Saturday night we went to a great dinner at Ruth's Chris, separate post coming. Sunday was mainly running around. We had softball in the morning and played one of the key games of the season. Before the 2008 season I split our team in two. We had developed a group of players who thought recreational co-ed softball was all about winning and not about having fun (OK they liked to have fun, but their idea of fun was winning). Their attitudes sucked and it made it no fun to play on Sunday. I kicked a couple people off the team a few of their friends from my team joined them and they decided to recruit a bunch of good players and form their own team. I wouldn't say this team is our rival but they're one of the better teams in the division, they care a lot about the final score, and half the players used to be on our team, so the game is special. We scored 3 runs in the top of the first and never trailed though the game was a toss up until we pulled away in the 6th and 7th innings. We played terrific defense which was the key and got them out running the bases four or five times, though the umpire missed one of the outs. Final was 13-6.
Sunday afternoon Hunny Bear had an acupuncture appointment. And then Sunday evening I went to the Storm Opening Night. The game was sloppy as I'd expect. Training camp is about 3 weeks in the WNBA and the star players don't get back from overseas until the last week. So you're watching a team that's practiced together for about 4 days. It was pretty ugly at times and the Storm had long stretches where they didn't score, but in the end they beat LA, their #1 rival, by about 10 points.
Oh yeh, Sprint 3 planning Sunday night.
Friday, May 14
Day 8, Thursday
A very busy and productive day, though I started by sleeping in since we didn't have contractors coming at 7:30.
I made it back to the gym for the first time this week. Lined up a contractor, actually two it turns out, to trim and tack the carpet in the doorways where it bumps up against the new hardwoods. Made a nice dinner -- brisket and sweet potato casserole (Yams Richard). Was a nice treat to do that without it being a holiday. Sort of like turkey only gets made once or twice a year.
Made a lot of progress catching up on financial records. Really I hadn't entered our "bank" statements into MS Money in a year. Which was really dumb because it took 10 minutes for most months and 20 minutes for tricky months... it just became a pile I never looked at. Caught up through the end of 2009, so I can work on taxes now. And so, I really started on our taxes for 2009.
Went to Kinko's to print some brochures for Monica's business to use at the Pet Fair this weekend. In the end, she has nice looking brochures -- I assume, I've only seen the proof, but the process was a bit frustrating. Actually working with the people at Fedex/Kinko's took 5-10 minutes but driving there, figuring out where I needed to be, and waiting in line took 45 minutes -- very high signal to noise ratio. Also helped Monica do through all her stuff to get ready for Saturday.
Worked out cleaning our outdoor furniture for the season. Everything has sat outside getting rained on or worse since the fall. A quick soap and rinse and letting mother nature do the drying.
Somewhere in between we took Hunny Bear for a nice long walk.
I made it back to the gym for the first time this week. Lined up a contractor, actually two it turns out, to trim and tack the carpet in the doorways where it bumps up against the new hardwoods. Made a nice dinner -- brisket and sweet potato casserole (Yams Richard). Was a nice treat to do that without it being a holiday. Sort of like turkey only gets made once or twice a year.
Made a lot of progress catching up on financial records. Really I hadn't entered our "bank" statements into MS Money in a year. Which was really dumb because it took 10 minutes for most months and 20 minutes for tricky months... it just became a pile I never looked at. Caught up through the end of 2009, so I can work on taxes now. And so, I really started on our taxes for 2009.
Went to Kinko's to print some brochures for Monica's business to use at the Pet Fair this weekend. In the end, she has nice looking brochures -- I assume, I've only seen the proof, but the process was a bit frustrating. Actually working with the people at Fedex/Kinko's took 5-10 minutes but driving there, figuring out where I needed to be, and waiting in line took 45 minutes -- very high signal to noise ratio. Also helped Monica do through all her stuff to get ready for Saturday.
Worked out cleaning our outdoor furniture for the season. Everything has sat outside getting rained on or worse since the fall. A quick soap and rinse and letting mother nature do the drying.
Somewhere in between we took Hunny Bear for a nice long walk.
Thursday, May 13
Week 2
After another typical weekend -- Mariners lose, softball team wins -- it's back to work.
This week I've been keeping an eye on our dogs while parts of the remodel are in progress. I was going to put them in daycare, but they're actually been pretty good about staying out of the way and not barking at the workers or all the noise. Nailing in a hardwood floor is noisy, but Tommy sleeps right through it.
Monday the hardwood guy got to work installing boards and my painters arrived. Fortunately the were working around each other. When we moved in we removed a divider from the bottom of the stairs and patched the walls and ceiling but never painted. I picked up some paint six months ago to see if I could get a match, but it was never on the top of the to do list. Sort of out-of-sight, out-of-mind but more after staring at the ugliness every day, we just learned to live with it. But with hardwoods going in, we wanted to paint first rather than risk getting paint on the new wood floors. In the end, we cut out a chunk of the wall and did a color match. They were able to feather in the paint to avoid painting the 15" wall above the stairwell and perhaps other walls to match which was a great saving of time and money. Hard to explain really; you have to see it.
Tuesday the hardwood installer got most of the floor done and Wednesday he finished up with the hallway and the edges. Looks great and it hasn't been sanded or finished yet.
Meanwhile I've been working on planning my trip to Las Vegas and it looks like it's a go. I'll be there May 24th through June 4th. Have airfare, hotels, and a rental car booked. I'm staying off the strip at Alexis Park the first week to keep my costs down. Even Imperial Palace wants $200 for Saturday over Memorial Day weekend, then moving to IP the second week where I have 4 nights for $85! My plan is rather than to play poker non-stop to actually have a vacation. See some shows, walk down the strip, maybe sit by the pool. Get away from the strip to see some other parts of Vegas. And really before 11 AM the poker action isn't that good.
Also working around the house. It seems the laundry never stops, even for just the two of us. I've been catching up on entering our financial records into MS Money in preparation for doing our taxes. Yes, I haven't even started taxes yet. Finished reseeding the back yard. Dogs and dog "output" do a number on a lawn. I can't believe how bad it looks just a year after we put down sod. Seeding is more work than it sounds like. Had to loosen up the soil in lots of places and work the seed into the dirt. Otherwise it just washes away. The lawn eeds a lot of TLC (and a lot of water) this year. Hope to see some grass and hope in a couple of weeks.
I installed a keyless entry for the garage. That was actually a fun project where I felt like I accomplished something rather than started something that will eventually finish. Our garage is attached to our house but is external so the door is locked and it's a pain to unlock it, every time to go into the garage. I looked at doing this when we first moved in, but didn't see one that would work. Maybe it's a new model, but this was pretty easy to install and only took an hour and works great.already.
Also made a trip to the vet. Hunny Bear and Cocoa are fine -- still needs another round of meds for his yeast infection -- but Tommy has problems with ears and eyes. And it's almost impossible for us to medicate him. He sees the dropper bottle coming for his ears or eyes and he runs. When you catch him he shakes and jerks his head. Try putting eye drops in while shaking -- impossible. That's my challenge foe the week.
This week I've been keeping an eye on our dogs while parts of the remodel are in progress. I was going to put them in daycare, but they're actually been pretty good about staying out of the way and not barking at the workers or all the noise. Nailing in a hardwood floor is noisy, but Tommy sleeps right through it.
Monday the hardwood guy got to work installing boards and my painters arrived. Fortunately the were working around each other. When we moved in we removed a divider from the bottom of the stairs and patched the walls and ceiling but never painted. I picked up some paint six months ago to see if I could get a match, but it was never on the top of the to do list. Sort of out-of-sight, out-of-mind but more after staring at the ugliness every day, we just learned to live with it. But with hardwoods going in, we wanted to paint first rather than risk getting paint on the new wood floors. In the end, we cut out a chunk of the wall and did a color match. They were able to feather in the paint to avoid painting the 15" wall above the stairwell and perhaps other walls to match which was a great saving of time and money. Hard to explain really; you have to see it.
Tuesday the hardwood installer got most of the floor done and Wednesday he finished up with the hallway and the edges. Looks great and it hasn't been sanded or finished yet.
Meanwhile I've been working on planning my trip to Las Vegas and it looks like it's a go. I'll be there May 24th through June 4th. Have airfare, hotels, and a rental car booked. I'm staying off the strip at Alexis Park the first week to keep my costs down. Even Imperial Palace wants $200 for Saturday over Memorial Day weekend, then moving to IP the second week where I have 4 nights for $85! My plan is rather than to play poker non-stop to actually have a vacation. See some shows, walk down the strip, maybe sit by the pool. Get away from the strip to see some other parts of Vegas. And really before 11 AM the poker action isn't that good.
Also working around the house. It seems the laundry never stops, even for just the two of us. I've been catching up on entering our financial records into MS Money in preparation for doing our taxes. Yes, I haven't even started taxes yet. Finished reseeding the back yard. Dogs and dog "output" do a number on a lawn. I can't believe how bad it looks just a year after we put down sod. Seeding is more work than it sounds like. Had to loosen up the soil in lots of places and work the seed into the dirt. Otherwise it just washes away. The lawn eeds a lot of TLC (and a lot of water) this year. Hope to see some grass and hope in a couple of weeks.
I installed a keyless entry for the garage. That was actually a fun project where I felt like I accomplished something rather than started something that will eventually finish. Our garage is attached to our house but is external so the door is locked and it's a pain to unlock it, every time to go into the garage. I looked at doing this when we first moved in, but didn't see one that would work. Maybe it's a new model, but this was pretty easy to install and only took an hour and works great.already.
Also made a trip to the vet. Hunny Bear and Cocoa are fine -- still needs another round of meds for his yeast infection -- but Tommy has problems with ears and eyes. And it's almost impossible for us to medicate him. He sees the dropper bottle coming for his ears or eyes and he runs. When you catch him he shakes and jerks his head. Try putting eye drops in while shaking -- impossible. That's my challenge foe the week.
Saturday, May 8
Friday Day 4
The remodel started for real. Our hardwood installer ripped out the carpets. While they didn't look so bad from the top, I was amazed how badly stained they were once you could see the underside. No wonder cleaning didn't help. Monica says thanks to Hunny Bear, Cocoa, Tommy, Jazz, Shayna, Duke, and all out other dog visitors for her new hardwoods. Barak Obama says thanks Monica for stimulating the economy.
I dropped the dogs at daycare to get them out of the house then worked out at David Barton Gym. Best workout yet. I felt energized afterwards rather than tired. Then went to the Mariners RBI Club luncheon and heard pitching coach Rick Adiar speak.
My softball swing was way off in our first games,so I went to the batting cages to work on it. An it's still off but at least I have some ideas. I'm dropping my back shoulder and getting under the ball. And since I'm not a power hitter that's awful. Think Jack Wilson hitting fly balls. My stroke got a bit better in the third round. We'll see what happens on Sunday. I think I'm heading back to the cages next week no matter what.
After dinner Monica and I went to the Issaquah Art Walk. Issaquah has a free art show along Front Street every Friday during the summer. This year they've expanded to Gilman Village as well. We got in a three mile walk and got to see a lot of art and artistic mediums, though nothing we liked enough to think about buying. Not that we have any space.
Weekend here I come :). Our vet us having an open house on Saturdayand I'm going to the Mariners game to try to break my streak.
I dropped the dogs at daycare to get them out of the house then worked out at David Barton Gym. Best workout yet. I felt energized afterwards rather than tired. Then went to the Mariners RBI Club luncheon and heard pitching coach Rick Adiar speak.
My softball swing was way off in our first games,so I went to the batting cages to work on it. An it's still off but at least I have some ideas. I'm dropping my back shoulder and getting under the ball. And since I'm not a power hitter that's awful. Think Jack Wilson hitting fly balls. My stroke got a bit better in the third round. We'll see what happens on Sunday. I think I'm heading back to the cages next week no matter what.
After dinner Monica and I went to the Issaquah Art Walk. Issaquah has a free art show along Front Street every Friday during the summer. This year they've expanded to Gilman Village as well. We got in a three mile walk and got to see a lot of art and artistic mediums, though nothing we liked enough to think about buying. Not that we have any space.
Weekend here I come :). Our vet us having an open house on Saturdayand I'm going to the Mariners game to try to break my streak.
Thursday, May 6
Day 3
Went to Hideaway to play their 10:30 poker tournament. This is the best structured daily tournament in town. You start with 100BB which gives you some time to play before you're short stacked and generally the field is small so it's not a luck fest until you're at the final table. One of the guys who seemed to be a regular said they get 40 or 50 people which I found surprising. They actually had 22 people at the start and just had two tables with two alternates. I lasted about an hour in the tournament. On the only good hand I had early I managed to steal the blinds. Lost a bunch of chips where I got unlucky and then bluffed off much of my stack against a guy who couldn't figure out he should fold, or had an amazing read on me.
Had lunch with my friend Meier and talked at length about ideas for an upcoming Vegas trip. Seems like it actually might not make sense to drive down, even for a long stay. Then came home to work on the yard. I fixed the light in the backyard; actually if just fixed itself but I programmed the timer. Filled in half a dozen holes in backyard and pretty the ground for reseeding. We love our dogs, but wow do they do a number on the lawn; number 1 that is.
Then to the Mariners game for the second night in a row. Who knew filling dirt would be more fun than the Mariners game. Wow is it cold for May baseball. The reported crowd was 17,000 but this is one of the two smallest crowds I've seen. Can't believe it was much more than 10K, if that.
Had lunch with my friend Meier and talked at length about ideas for an upcoming Vegas trip. Seems like it actually might not make sense to drive down, even for a long stay. Then came home to work on the yard. I fixed the light in the backyard; actually if just fixed itself but I programmed the timer. Filled in half a dozen holes in backyard and pretty the ground for reseeding. We love our dogs, but wow do they do a number on the lawn; number 1 that is.
Then to the Mariners game for the second night in a row. Who knew filling dirt would be more fun than the Mariners game. Wow is it cold for May baseball. The reported crowd was 17,000 but this is one of the two smallest crowds I've seen. Can't believe it was much more than 10K, if that.
Day 2, Wednesday
As planned much of the day was pre-work on the hardwoods.
To replace the carpets in the living room and dining/piano room with hardwoods (thanks doggies), we need to get all of the furniture out of the way. For the most part Monica and I could move the items ourselves, but there's the matter of a huge, heavy piano so we hired professionals to store everything in our garage for a month.
Got in a quick workout before the movers were scheduled to arrive at 10 AM. Unfortunately there was a car fire on the 520 bridge and even more unfortunate they chose to take 520 instead of coming across I-90 which delayed them until 10:45. Other than that the move went smoothly. The wood delivery showed up at 11, but they kept out of each other's way though they were using the same space. Move was done by noon.
My little project for the day was to fix the outdoor light for our backyard. At least I thought it was little -- position ladder, remove bulb, replace bulb. That didn't help. The light is on a programmable timer switch and it turns out the batteries in the switch needed to be replaced. Had to go to Fred Meyer to get tiny watch-like batteries.. and now the switch works but the light doesn't come on. Working more on this today. Also picked up a programmable lock for the garage -- the kind where you can punch in a combination instead of using a key. Our garage is detached so we need to unlock it every time we go in there. This probably would have happened a year ago if there was room for my car in there.
Went to the Mariners game last night. Pretty good for 7 innings, but overall yuck. It's pretty painful to watch Griffey play. And without Bradley, that offense is terrible.
Off to play poker in the AM.
To replace the carpets in the living room and dining/piano room with hardwoods (thanks doggies), we need to get all of the furniture out of the way. For the most part Monica and I could move the items ourselves, but there's the matter of a huge, heavy piano so we hired professionals to store everything in our garage for a month.
Got in a quick workout before the movers were scheduled to arrive at 10 AM. Unfortunately there was a car fire on the 520 bridge and even more unfortunate they chose to take 520 instead of coming across I-90 which delayed them until 10:45. Other than that the move went smoothly. The wood delivery showed up at 11, but they kept out of each other's way though they were using the same space. Move was done by noon.
My little project for the day was to fix the outdoor light for our backyard. At least I thought it was little -- position ladder, remove bulb, replace bulb. That didn't help. The light is on a programmable timer switch and it turns out the batteries in the switch needed to be replaced. Had to go to Fred Meyer to get tiny watch-like batteries.. and now the switch works but the light doesn't come on. Working more on this today. Also picked up a programmable lock for the garage -- the kind where you can punch in a combination instead of using a key. Our garage is detached so we need to unlock it every time we go in there. This probably would have happened a year ago if there was room for my car in there.
Went to the Mariners game last night. Pretty good for 7 innings, but overall yuck. It's pretty painful to watch Griffey play. And without Bradley, that offense is terrible.
Off to play poker in the AM.
Wednesday, May 5
Days 0 and 1
The weekend doesn't count because I'm usually "unemployed" on weekends, so this isn't different. And this was pretty typical for a spring/summer weekend. Went to the Mariners game on Saturday and played started softball season on Sunday. Mariners lost and I've yet to see them win in person this year. Softball team went 1-1 which is good since we started last year 0-7. We also met with our hardwood installer again and finalized our floor plan. We're going to install real cherry wood floors rather than prefinished wood. It's a lot messier and will take a few days longer because it will have to be sanded and finished, but it will look a lot better and be less expensive. Also we can get the wood this week instead of a 3-4 week backup for delivery.
Monday was day 0. When we got laid off, it was supposed to be our last day of work, but as noted I was already done so my real plans were for Tuesday. Slept in, went to the gym, hit Costco for some essentials, finished Mother's Day shopping and mailed all our Mother's Day gifts.Got movers in place for Wednesday.
Tuesday I had some plans in place. I took the dogs to the vet in the morning. Cocoa was due for his annual checkup and some vaccines and Hunny Bear needed to have stitches removed from his surgery last week and was due for a vaccine as well. Hunny Bear is great though Cocoa has a yeast infection in his ears. We need to do some serious ear cleaning on him. Then I met a friend for lunch, met with my financial adviser to discuss converting my traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs which has special rules in 2010. It turns out to be a good idea if you're far from retiring and don't want to be forced to take withdrawals at 70 1/2 -- say you don't expect to ever need the money. Didn't make it to the gym.
Monica and I had a 4:30 meeting regarding the Humane Society's vision plan, so it was a bit of a short day.
Plan for day 2 is to be here while they do the prep work for converting carpets to hardwoods.
Monday was day 0. When we got laid off, it was supposed to be our last day of work, but as noted I was already done so my real plans were for Tuesday. Slept in, went to the gym, hit Costco for some essentials, finished Mother's Day shopping and mailed all our Mother's Day gifts.Got movers in place for Wednesday.
Tuesday I had some plans in place. I took the dogs to the vet in the morning. Cocoa was due for his annual checkup and some vaccines and Hunny Bear needed to have stitches removed from his surgery last week and was due for a vaccine as well. Hunny Bear is great though Cocoa has a yeast infection in his ears. We need to do some serious ear cleaning on him. Then I met a friend for lunch, met with my financial adviser to discuss converting my traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs which has special rules in 2010. It turns out to be a good idea if you're far from retiring and don't want to be forced to take withdrawals at 70 1/2 -- say you don't expect to ever need the money. Didn't make it to the gym.
Monica and I had a 4:30 meeting regarding the Humane Society's vision plan, so it was a bit of a short day.
Plan for day 2 is to be here while they do the prep work for converting carpets to hardwoods.
Friday, April 30
Day -1: Recovering
Since I'm technically still employed until Monday, this isn't really even day 1 yet. OK, and I'm a technology geek.
My time off started with a bang. Last night on my way home my car battery died. Had to call AAA to get me home. Looks like I need a new alternator. Always nice to have big expenses right as you lose your job. Oh well, maybe it's an excuse to play more poker to earn some extra income.
Today was about recovering from the last couple of weeks. I haven't been working very hard but work has been emotionally exhausting. I made a list of projects to work on while it helped me get organized, it also seems a bit overwhelming. And I decided to use the product I've worked on to see if we can attack these projects in an Agile fashion. So I organized my work and uploaded all of it into Serena Agile. In the process I found three really bad bugs. While finding bugs is normally exciting, it was actually a bit disheartening to see problems in production and to spend my last week working on real problems. As such, I really haven't been motivated to do much around the house.
So today is about doing dishes, running several loads of laundry, going through the last week of mail (some email too), putting away the stuff I brought home from the office, cleaning out the fridge, and doing some grocery shopping. But first, I got to sleep in late for the first time in a really long time. I think I got up about 10:30.
Oh and I made it to gym for the second day in a row. Good. And I stepped on a scale for the first time in weeks. Bad, very bad. Tomorrow I buy a new scale.
My time off started with a bang. Last night on my way home my car battery died. Had to call AAA to get me home. Looks like I need a new alternator. Always nice to have big expenses right as you lose your job. Oh well, maybe it's an excuse to play more poker to earn some extra income.
Today was about recovering from the last couple of weeks. I haven't been working very hard but work has been emotionally exhausting. I made a list of projects to work on while it helped me get organized, it also seems a bit overwhelming. And I decided to use the product I've worked on to see if we can attack these projects in an Agile fashion. So I organized my work and uploaded all of it into Serena Agile. In the process I found three really bad bugs. While finding bugs is normally exciting, it was actually a bit disheartening to see problems in production and to spend my last week working on real problems. As such, I really haven't been motivated to do much around the house.
So today is about doing dishes, running several loads of laundry, going through the last week of mail (some email too), putting away the stuff I brought home from the office, cleaning out the fridge, and doing some grocery shopping. But first, I got to sleep in late for the first time in a really long time. I think I got up about 10:30.
Oh and I made it to gym for the second day in a row. Good. And I stepped on a scale for the first time in weeks. Bad, very bad. Tomorrow I buy a new scale.
Taking the Summer Off
As many of you who are reading this know, a couple months ago my company decided to close its Bellevue office and laid us all off. I was part of the transition team that was retained until May 3 to help move our work from Bellevue to Kiev. While May 3 is technically my last day at Serena, Thursday was my last day in the office and today starts my "summer".
Rather than jump back into another job, I decided to take a break for the summer to work on some projects. I'm going to try to blog about my day-to-day activities though won't necessarily post daily. One thing I want to do is take an extended trip to Las Vegas though this seems harder and harder to fit in around other plans.
Rather than jump back into another job, I decided to take a break for the summer to work on some projects. I'm going to try to blog about my day-to-day activities though won't necessarily post daily. One thing I want to do is take an extended trip to Las Vegas though this seems harder and harder to fit in around other plans.
Thursday, April 29
Long time no see
I haven't blogged in quite some time because I haven't played any poker since I got back from Vegas. As it gets to be summer in Seattle my weekends and weeknights have been busy. And with my poker buddy overseas, no one has called to say let's play poker.
But I did play Tuesday night finally. Played the 2-40 spread game at Club Hollywood. I used to love this game an find it easy money. But since Snoqualmie opened I've found the lure of no limit 20 minutes away too enticing to trek to Shoreline very often. The game was just as I remembered that I played well which helped. I won three sizeable pots snapping off bluffs on the river, though a couple were just terrible bluffing spots. In 2.5 hours I more than doubled my buy-in.
With my job done (more on that later) I should be able to play more than once a month going forward.
More of poker and my summer plans soon.
But I did play Tuesday night finally. Played the 2-40 spread game at Club Hollywood. I used to love this game an find it easy money. But since Snoqualmie opened I've found the lure of no limit 20 minutes away too enticing to trek to Shoreline very often. The game was just as I remembered that I played well which helped. I won three sizeable pots snapping off bluffs on the river, though a couple were just terrible bluffing spots. In 2.5 hours I more than doubled my buy-in.
With my job done (more on that later) I should be able to play more than once a month going forward.
More of poker and my summer plans soon.
Sunday, March 7
Tulalip tournament
Finally played poker for the first time in a couple of weeks. A friend wanted to play the Tulalip evening tournament, so we met in Northgate and carpooled up. The tournament has 30-minute levels which is much better than the 15-20 minute levels you see in most places. The structure allows for play, though there's a huge jump after the first break when blinds go from 100-200 (300 an orbit) to 200-400 with a 25 ante (850 an orbit). To be frank, this is a flaw in what's otherwise a good tournament.
Given that you go from good stack to short stack after the break, I took some chances in the third and fourth levels and wound up busting out early. While busting out early seems like a bad thing, it's actually better to take chances and bust out early than nurse a tiny stack a long time and still miss the money. 11th and 120th place pay the same -- nothing. Of course if you get to 11th or 12th, you had a chance to cash, but truly these no difference between 30th and 90th except you waste a couple more hours. A had a couple of hands where I made a steal raise, bet the flop and got check-raised all-in. Not having much of a hand, I could fold but that cost be a lot of chips. Went out when I made a small raise with KK looking for action, shoved on an A-A-9 flop (pretty good) and was called by 99.
The cash game was good, though I hate the 1-3 blinds and $200 max structure. I guess it's the same as 2-5, $300 max but both feel very, very small. On an aside, that's one of the pluses of playing in Vegas -- they have larger max buy-ins which allows you to win more money and play more hands. Imagine choosing between two stocks that are similar companies each selling for $10/share (yes the price is silly but bear with me). If you were told one stock could never go above $20 while the other could go into the $50s, the latter is the better choice all other things being equal.
I turned a small profit in the cash game and was close to even for the night. I think I made one bad fold, but since I folded I'll never know. I'd go back sometime, but it's still quite a trip. With a couple stops at the park and ride and dropping off Meier and home, it took me well over an hour to get home.
Given that you go from good stack to short stack after the break, I took some chances in the third and fourth levels and wound up busting out early. While busting out early seems like a bad thing, it's actually better to take chances and bust out early than nurse a tiny stack a long time and still miss the money. 11th and 120th place pay the same -- nothing. Of course if you get to 11th or 12th, you had a chance to cash, but truly these no difference between 30th and 90th except you waste a couple more hours. A had a couple of hands where I made a steal raise, bet the flop and got check-raised all-in. Not having much of a hand, I could fold but that cost be a lot of chips. Went out when I made a small raise with KK looking for action, shoved on an A-A-9 flop (pretty good) and was called by 99.
The cash game was good, though I hate the 1-3 blinds and $200 max structure. I guess it's the same as 2-5, $300 max but both feel very, very small. On an aside, that's one of the pluses of playing in Vegas -- they have larger max buy-ins which allows you to win more money and play more hands. Imagine choosing between two stocks that are similar companies each selling for $10/share (yes the price is silly but bear with me). If you were told one stock could never go above $20 while the other could go into the $50s, the latter is the better choice all other things being equal.
I turned a small profit in the cash game and was close to even for the night. I think I made one bad fold, but since I folded I'll never know. I'd go back sometime, but it's still quite a trip. With a couple stops at the park and ride and dropping off Meier and home, it took me well over an hour to get home.
Sunday, February 28
Bahamas
Monica and I just got back from a week in Orlando and Atlantis in the Bahamas. Thus no poker in a while.
Orlando was same old same old. Saw the family, went to Disneyworld, bought a bunch of stuff for Monica's nephew and nieces. But we had never been to the Bahamas.
Atlantis was beautiful and while the weather wasn't perfect - it rained Wednesday and was very windy Thursday - it was nice to get away from Seattle winter. That said I think we were both dissappointed. The prices were pretty outrageous; we were essentially paying "ballpark" prices all week. $4 for a bottle of water, $28 for the breakfast buffet. To me, everything was inflated about 100%. I wondered if I missed an exchange rate but I didn't. That said the food was excellent almost eveywhere we ate.
But I don't think we were disappointed as much by the prices as that service was disappointing almost eveywhere we went except for fine dining for dinner. The spa, the activities, the casual dining by the pool, housekeeping and maintenance all left something if not a lot to be desired. Our room was $$$$ and came with a cracked toliet seat.
One thing we did consistently notice was that the high prices did lead to a higher class of people. While Disney is expensive, you get visitors from almost every walk of life and lack of courtesy and common sense is the default. Can't remember the last time I didn't see a parked stroller with a camera in it begging to be stolen.
At Atlantis people had brains, were thoughful, nobody rushed to be first and it wasn't until breakfast the last day that we saw kids that weren't well behaved.
Orlando was same old same old. Saw the family, went to Disneyworld, bought a bunch of stuff for Monica's nephew and nieces. But we had never been to the Bahamas.
Atlantis was beautiful and while the weather wasn't perfect - it rained Wednesday and was very windy Thursday - it was nice to get away from Seattle winter. That said I think we were both dissappointed. The prices were pretty outrageous; we were essentially paying "ballpark" prices all week. $4 for a bottle of water, $28 for the breakfast buffet. To me, everything was inflated about 100%. I wondered if I missed an exchange rate but I didn't. That said the food was excellent almost eveywhere we ate.
But I don't think we were disappointed as much by the prices as that service was disappointing almost eveywhere we went except for fine dining for dinner. The spa, the activities, the casual dining by the pool, housekeeping and maintenance all left something if not a lot to be desired. Our room was $$$$ and came with a cracked toliet seat.
One thing we did consistently notice was that the high prices did lead to a higher class of people. While Disney is expensive, you get visitors from almost every walk of life and lack of courtesy and common sense is the default. Can't remember the last time I didn't see a parked stroller with a camera in it begging to be stolen.
At Atlantis people had brains, were thoughful, nobody rushed to be first and it wasn't until breakfast the last day that we saw kids that weren't well behaved.
Bahamas
Monica and I just got back from a week in Orlando and Atlantis in the Bahamas. Thus no poker in a while.
Orlando was same old same old. Saw the family, went to Disneyworld, bought a bunch of stuff for Monica's nephew and nieces. But we had never been to the Bahamas.
Atlantis was beautiful and while the weather wasn't perfect - it rained Wednesday and was very windy Thursday - it was nice to get away from Seattle winter. That said I think we were both dissappointed. The prices were pretty outrageous; we were essentially paying "ballpark" prices all week. $4 for a bottle of water, $28 for the breakfast buffet. To me, everything was inflated about 100%. I wondered if I missed an exchange rate but I didn't. That said the food was excellent almost eveywhere we ate.
But I don't think we were disappointed as much by the prices as that service was disappointing almost eveywhere we went except for fine dining for dinner. The spa, the activities, the casual dining by the pool, housekeeping and maintenance all left something if not a lot to be desired. Our room was $$$$ and came with a cracked toliet seat.
One thing we did consistently notice was that the high prices did lead to a higher class of people. While Disney is expensive, you get visitors from almost every walk of life and lack of courtesy and common sense is the default. Can't remember the last time I didn't see a parked stroller with a camera in it begging to be stolen.
At Atlantis people had brains, were thoughful, nobody rushed to be first and it wasn't until breakfast the last day that we saw kids that weren't well behaved.
Orlando was same old same old. Saw the family, went to Disneyworld, bought a bunch of stuff for Monica's nephew and nieces. But we had never been to the Bahamas.
Atlantis was beautiful and while the weather wasn't perfect - it rained Wednesday and was very windy Thursday - it was nice to get away from Seattle winter. That said I think we were both dissappointed. The prices were pretty outrageous; we were essentially paying "ballpark" prices all week. $4 for a bottle of water, $28 for the breakfast buffet. To me, everything was inflated about 100%. I wondered if I missed an exchange rate but I didn't. That said the food was excellent almost eveywhere we ate.
But I don't think we were disappointed as much by the prices as that service was disappointing almost eveywhere we went except for fine dining for dinner. The spa, the activities, the casual dining by the pool, housekeeping and maintenance all left something if not a lot to be desired. Our room was $$$$ and came with a cracked toliet seat.
One thing we did consistently notice was that the high prices did lead to a higher class of people. While Disney is expensive, you get visitors from almost every walk of life and lack of courtesy and common sense is the default. Can't remember the last time I didn't see a parked stroller with a camera in it begging to be stolen.
At Atlantis people had brains, were thoughful, nobody rushed to be first and it wasn't until breakfast the last day that we saw kids that weren't well behaved.
Monday, February 15
Tournament at Hideaway
I played the 2-5 game at Snoqualmie last Wednesday and had some huge swings. Was down two buy ins at one point. Quite honestly I wasn't playing well -- too loose and too passive. I got "fooled" on a big hand where my opponent took a lot of time to make his decision on the flop and looked like he was going to fold and I pegged him for weak. Instead he had flopped the nuts and I guess was pondering a raise.
I shaped up my play, hit some draws, made a couple of hero calls in big pots and wound up cashing out up a buy-in. That gets me close to even for the year.
This morning I decided to check out Hideaway with Meier. We'd popped in a couple of time since it re-opened a couple of years ago, but it never seemed inviting. Was the same four to six regulars and a couple of dealers hoping to get a 3-6 game started. But recently they've been advertising a pretty good structure for their daily tournaments so I figured I'd give it a try. I had the day off today for President's Day (yes really) and Meier is always happy to play in Shoreline casinos. It turns out we know the casino manager there. Mooske used to be the poker room manager at Treasure Casino and then Rascal's before both places removed their poker room; and while there ran the best low buy-in tournaments in town.
Unfortunately it was a bit of a last minute decision and we were both alternates. I didn't get in until the middle of the third level which put me at a disadvantage. After the break, it was push fest time -- my chip stack was so small my only choices were to go all-in or fold. I stole the blinds with 54s, then raised with KQs and was called by a shorter stack with 44 -- a really terrible play as he's either a slight favorite or a 4.5:1 dog if I have a pair -- flopped a king and knocked him out. Then I shoved with AK and took the blinds and had my M up to 9 and we broke to two tables.
From this point on I ran over the table, shoving liberally to pick off blinds which is the only way to play. Sometimes I had hands, but a lot of times I just had position. I believe of the perhaps 15-20 times I pushed all-in pre-flop the KQ v 44 hand was the only time I got called. In a key hand, a decent shack shoved, I found KK and re-shoved and didn't get unlucky against 66. At this point I finally had enough chips that I could raise without having to go all-in.
At the final table, the big stack was on my right and I continued to accumulate chips once he was out of the hand. I think we started the table with 165K for him and 120K for me. Key hand of the tournament. Blinds are 10K-20K and big stack (now #2 stack) is first to act min raises to 40K, I ask what he has left and he counts 150K. I shove for 230K total with AK, the BB tosses in her last few chips and #2 guy thinks a long time before folding JJ. BB shows QT (or something silly), I flop an ace and we're 5-handed and I have almost half the chips in play. It was easy from there especially since no one wanted to tangle with me.
Last hand I limp on the button with A7o, trying to trap. Flop is K-7-4 and my opponents pushes for about the size of the pot. I think a bit and can't believe he has a king and call. He shows 54 and doesn't suck out.
If only they were all this easy. Turned $50 into $565 in about 2.5 hours.
I shaped up my play, hit some draws, made a couple of hero calls in big pots and wound up cashing out up a buy-in. That gets me close to even for the year.
This morning I decided to check out Hideaway with Meier. We'd popped in a couple of time since it re-opened a couple of years ago, but it never seemed inviting. Was the same four to six regulars and a couple of dealers hoping to get a 3-6 game started. But recently they've been advertising a pretty good structure for their daily tournaments so I figured I'd give it a try. I had the day off today for President's Day (yes really) and Meier is always happy to play in Shoreline casinos. It turns out we know the casino manager there. Mooske used to be the poker room manager at Treasure Casino and then Rascal's before both places removed their poker room; and while there ran the best low buy-in tournaments in town.
Unfortunately it was a bit of a last minute decision and we were both alternates. I didn't get in until the middle of the third level which put me at a disadvantage. After the break, it was push fest time -- my chip stack was so small my only choices were to go all-in or fold. I stole the blinds with 54s, then raised with KQs and was called by a shorter stack with 44 -- a really terrible play as he's either a slight favorite or a 4.5:1 dog if I have a pair -- flopped a king and knocked him out. Then I shoved with AK and took the blinds and had my M up to 9 and we broke to two tables.
From this point on I ran over the table, shoving liberally to pick off blinds which is the only way to play. Sometimes I had hands, but a lot of times I just had position. I believe of the perhaps 15-20 times I pushed all-in pre-flop the KQ v 44 hand was the only time I got called. In a key hand, a decent shack shoved, I found KK and re-shoved and didn't get unlucky against 66. At this point I finally had enough chips that I could raise without having to go all-in.
At the final table, the big stack was on my right and I continued to accumulate chips once he was out of the hand. I think we started the table with 165K for him and 120K for me. Key hand of the tournament. Blinds are 10K-20K and big stack (now #2 stack) is first to act min raises to 40K, I ask what he has left and he counts 150K. I shove for 230K total with AK, the BB tosses in her last few chips and #2 guy thinks a long time before folding JJ. BB shows QT (or something silly), I flop an ace and we're 5-handed and I have almost half the chips in play. It was easy from there especially since no one wanted to tangle with me.
Last hand I limp on the button with A7o, trying to trap. Flop is K-7-4 and my opponents pushes for about the size of the pot. I think a bit and can't believe he has a king and call. He shows 54 and doesn't suck out.
If only they were all this easy. Turned $50 into $565 in about 2.5 hours.
Monday, February 1
Hunny Bear climbs into bed
For a blog named for Hunny Bear, there's not actually much about Hunny Bear in the blog.
But yesterday Hunny Bear did something we've been trying to get him to do for years. And we're very proud of him! A few years ago we got a Tempur-Pedic bed and found that with the thicker mattress and his advanced age, Hunny Bear could no longer jump on the bed to sleep with us. So we got some pet steps and put them next to the bed. (They don't quite look like the picture but you get the idea.) He wouldn't go near them. Emily immediately ran up them. Every foster dog or dog we've dog sat ran up them into bed. Hunny Bear wouldn't touch them. If you put his front paws on the first step, he stepped off.
We tried off and on to teach him, but finally we put the steps away. But in the new house we have them out. For the first time yesterday, Hunny Bear used the steps to walk into bed without any physical assistance. I patted the bottom step and once he stepped on, I patted the second step, and he stepped up and figured the rest out from there. And he just repeated the behavior tonight.
I only wonder what took him so long to try it.
But yesterday Hunny Bear did something we've been trying to get him to do for years. And we're very proud of him! A few years ago we got a Tempur-Pedic bed and found that with the thicker mattress and his advanced age, Hunny Bear could no longer jump on the bed to sleep with us. So we got some pet steps and put them next to the bed. (They don't quite look like the picture but you get the idea.) He wouldn't go near them. Emily immediately ran up them. Every foster dog or dog we've dog sat ran up them into bed. Hunny Bear wouldn't touch them. If you put his front paws on the first step, he stepped off.
We tried off and on to teach him, but finally we put the steps away. But in the new house we have them out. For the first time yesterday, Hunny Bear used the steps to walk into bed without any physical assistance. I patted the bottom step and once he stepped on, I patted the second step, and he stepped up and figured the rest out from there. And he just repeated the behavior tonight.
I only wonder what took him so long to try it.
Wild poker action last weekend
I played at Snoqualmie last Saturday night. Weekends are usually good games because everyone is out having fun and thus the play is more relaxed. You don't often get "drunk tourist" locally like to do in Las Vegas, but on Saturday night there's a lot more drinking.
It was one of the wildest sessions I've had in a while -- up a bit, down a lot, back to ahead, and finally down a bit. In a short four hours I had a ton of hands. AA, KK, QQ, JJ twice, AK at least three times, KQ, AJ, 88, probably some others I forget.
That said, a lot of medium pots but no huge pots. I don't think I saw the turn with any of the big hands.
I'll never understand why people enjoy getting plastered while playing poker. A social drink sure, but what's the fun in paying $30/drink because you're so out of it you're giving away your money. That said, I'm happy to relieve stupid people of their cash; that's much of why I play poker.
It was one of the wildest sessions I've had in a while -- up a bit, down a lot, back to ahead, and finally down a bit. In a short four hours I had a ton of hands. AA, KK, QQ, JJ twice, AK at least three times, KQ, AJ, 88, probably some others I forget.
That said, a lot of medium pots but no huge pots. I don't think I saw the turn with any of the big hands.
I'll never understand why people enjoy getting plastered while playing poker. A social drink sure, but what's the fun in paying $30/drink because you're so out of it you're giving away your money. That said, I'm happy to relieve stupid people of their cash; that's much of why I play poker.
Saturday, January 16
Why College Basketball is Close
Anyone who's watched college basketball over the past few years has noticed that games are generally close. There are lots of upset every year, even with top 5 teams against unranked opponents. Cornell, an Ivy league school, played then #1 Kansas close and lost by only five points.
Vanderbilt just beat South Carolina by 10 points on the road. Any road win in the SEC is an accomplishment, and a double digit road win is doubly impressive. However I wondered whether South Carolina was just really bad, Vanderbilt was good, or Vanderbilt just played well. And this is interesting.
I checked the "Vegas lines" and Vanderbilt was a 1 point favorite, so winning easily is a great. Then I checked Sagrain ratings to get a computerized view of what they've done so far. Vanderbilt is #21 and South Carolina is #73 so at first it looks like Vanderbilt should win easily and the line is "off". However a close look shows Vanderbilt's rating is only 4.5 point more than South Carolina's. Give South Carolina 4 points for being home, and the "Sagarin line" is Vanderbilt by 1/2 point! That's right a top 25 team plays a team not in the top 70 -- a team hoping for a NIT berth -- and the game is a toss up.
There are some good teams at the top, but the difference between #10 and #100 is just 12 points. The difference between #10, what some might call an elite team and #50, a team on the NCAA tournament bubble is 6 points. And if the #50 team is at home, the difference is 2 points, essentially a toss up.
In the ACC, the difference between the second best team and the worst (12th) team is 8 points. 2nd to 7th are separated by 3 points. That's going to be a wild conference and a wilder tournament. In the Big East, the top 12 teams are separated by 10 points. It's not quite a crapshoot, but most conference games are 60-40 propositions even if there's a big spread in rankings.
It's a good year to bet on middle seeds making a run in the NCAA tournament.
Vanderbilt just beat South Carolina by 10 points on the road. Any road win in the SEC is an accomplishment, and a double digit road win is doubly impressive. However I wondered whether South Carolina was just really bad, Vanderbilt was good, or Vanderbilt just played well. And this is interesting.
I checked the "Vegas lines" and Vanderbilt was a 1 point favorite, so winning easily is a great. Then I checked Sagrain ratings to get a computerized view of what they've done so far. Vanderbilt is #21 and South Carolina is #73 so at first it looks like Vanderbilt should win easily and the line is "off". However a close look shows Vanderbilt's rating is only 4.5 point more than South Carolina's. Give South Carolina 4 points for being home, and the "Sagarin line" is Vanderbilt by 1/2 point! That's right a top 25 team plays a team not in the top 70 -- a team hoping for a NIT berth -- and the game is a toss up.
There are some good teams at the top, but the difference between #10 and #100 is just 12 points. The difference between #10, what some might call an elite team and #50, a team on the NCAA tournament bubble is 6 points. And if the #50 team is at home, the difference is 2 points, essentially a toss up.
In the ACC, the difference between the second best team and the worst (12th) team is 8 points. 2nd to 7th are separated by 3 points. That's going to be a wild conference and a wilder tournament. In the Big East, the top 12 teams are separated by 10 points. It's not quite a crapshoot, but most conference games are 60-40 propositions even if there's a big spread in rankings.
It's a good year to bet on middle seeds making a run in the NCAA tournament.
Monday, January 11
Vegas poker trip
Went to Vegas for a few days right before New Year's. It's a great place to play because there are more good poker rooms in a two mile stretch than there are in all of Washington and Oregon combined. Had a couple of huge cashes, mainly at the Venetian and Planet Hollywood and came out enough ahead that the trip was free. Of course staying three nights for $89 total makes that pretty easy.
I played so much poker in three days that I really can't talk about interesting hands or sessions. Independent of the cash result, it was a lot of fun to live on the wild side. Cuz I'm kinda a simple boring guy :)
I'll be heading back in March and it looks like July as well.
I played so much poker in three days that I really can't talk about interesting hands or sessions. Independent of the cash result, it was a lot of fun to live on the wild side. Cuz I'm kinda a simple boring guy :)
I'll be heading back in March and it looks like July as well.
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